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Tim Evans, TimpanAli: Five things I would change about Jersey

Tim Evans, TimpanAli: Five things I would change about Jersey

Friday 02 July 2021

Tim Evans, TimpanAli: Five things I would change about Jersey

Friday 02 July 2021


The co-founder of a local musical productions company has taken centre stage to fight for more support for the arts, better looked after buildings and no more slimy green goop on our beaches.

Tim Evans formed TimpanAli Productions with Alastair Walkinshaw in 2010 to present musicals which would otherwise not be staged in Jersey.

TimpanAli’s first outing was with a Concert Revue of Cole Porter songs. In 2012, they started to present a bi-annual series of Forgotten Musicals in a semi-staged concert format.

They have also produced fully-staged productions of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Oh! What a Lovely War’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and ‘Sunset Boulevard.’ Their next production is scheduled to be ‘Peter Pan’ in October 2022.

In this performance, Tim shares the five things he would change about Jersey...

1. Funding for the Arts

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Pictured: "The arts are not a frivolous bauble for people to play at and not get paid but are life-enriching supporting serious people with serious careers."

The government to honour the recommendations made in every arts strategy review going back to at least 2005 which is that 1% of GDP to be given to arts and culture. Currently this figure is 0.7%, the bulk of which goes to heritage.

The balance is distributed amongst various arts but not the performing arts: none of it comes directly to the performing arts. The extra 0.3% should go to supporting the performing arts. The arts are not a frivolous bauble for people to play at and not get paid but are life-enriching supporting serious people with serious careers. 

2. Building maintenance

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Pictured: "A properly costed maintenance programme will in the long run be cheaper than the current policy."

The government to introduce a proper maintenance policy for publicly-owned buildings instead of the current make-do and mend policy. The current policy is to keep buildings wind- and water-tight but all this does is create larger calls on our money in the long-run. A properly costed maintenance programme will in the long run be cheaper than the current policy.  

3. Planning

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Pictured: "Revisiting decisions of this kind always costs public money."

Once a decision has been taken and planning permission granted on a public building, the decision should not be revisited unless it becomes apparent that there is a major structural or environmental issue with the building that has been given consent. Revisiting decisions of this kind always costs public money. 

4. Hautlieu

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Pictured: "Often the schools they came from are criticized if their results in Year 11 are not as high as they could be, conveniently forgetting that the students joining Hautlieu were given a target of at least a grade 5 at GCSE by those schools."

For many years there has been a debate about whether Hautlieu should be a 14+ school or a Sixth Form College. Currently the system sees some of the higher ability students transferring to Hautlieu at the end of Year 9.

Often the schools they came from are criticized if their results in Year 11 are not as high as they could be, conveniently forgetting that the students joining Hautlieu were given a target of at least a grade 5 at GCSE by those schools. Making Hautlieu a Sixth Form College would allow all schools to show what they can do. 

5. Sea lettuce on the beaches

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Pictured: "There has to be a way to prevent it being washed up on the sand."

This year has seen less of this so far this year but we still see it. The smell is unpleasant and puts visitors off, especially when they have seen the beautiful beaches we have in adverts. Rather than just removing it from the beaches when possible, there needs to be a solution found to prevent it happening in the first place.

It has been caused by reclaiming land which has changed the currents but there has to be a way to prevent it being washed up on the sand.  

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