The Housing and Planning ministers are pressing ahead with plans for hundreds of homes for the elderly on green field sites but Constable Graeme Butcher is trying to assess the demand for future sheltered accommodation needs in his parish. He is asking Islanders with strong St John connections who would like to live in the parish when they retire to get in touch. Mr Butcher said that the Housing Minister had not provided sufficient information to the parish to assess how much demand there would actually be – even though two sites in St John are among those earmarked, both north of the village, which will provide 28 units. ‘It is difficult to assess whether the demand is real, as the Housing Minister’s evidence would appear to be anecdotal,’ he said. Islanders living outside the parish who believe they would have a strong claim for a retirement home in St John are asked to contact the parish hall. Mr Butcher said: ‘We would like to know how much demand there is for people to come back to the parish of their birth.’ The Constable said the parish was prepared to play its part in ensuring that there were sufficient retirement homes for people. However, he added: ‘We have to do our fair share – but only our fair share.’ Mr Butcher said that the parish administers 22 sheltered retirement homes at Maison Le Vesconte, which are owned by the Greenwood Trust. By virtue of his office, the Constable is a trustee and said that the parish did have a list of parishioners who wanted to live at Maison Le Vesconte. He said there had been units vacant and some people on the waiting list offered places declined because they were not yet ready to move into sheltered accommodation.
