Let’s get street savvy and get out the tarmac

Sadly, on a couple of occasions, my criticism has been all but lost because I have chosen to highlight the utter stupidity of spending thousands and thousands on things like the cycle route near the golf course at Grouville when most cyclists – and particularly the posses of lycra clad mobile chicanes who delight in cycling two and three abreast in search of a Guinness Book of Records entry for the longest motor vehicle tailback behind them – avoid the track like the plague and use the adjacent road.

Before I get any further, and to avoid upsetting the sensitive souls who find it impossible to exercise other than clad in the aforementioned lycra in groups of at least a dozen, can I stress that the bit about the Guinness Book of Records is an attempt – probably futile, but at least I try – to bring a smile to their otherwise dour little faces.

The principal point I have always tried to make is that the money spent on creating a purpose built pavement for a relative handful of cyclists to share with pedestrians would have been better spent on repairing the main road, which is in an appalling state.

All that is why it was so encouraging to read comments last week from Les Winton who, as I recall, was not only a nice man but also a highly respected senior pinstripe in what used to be called the States Main Roads Department before someone decided to make an industry out of coming up with new names for the outfit – a nice little earner which continues until this day.

As he rightly pointed out, the powers that be have suddenly ‘found’ nearly a million quid to revamp the area around St Brelade’s Parish Hall at St Aubin – an area which Mr Winton recalls was in receipt of a makeover not that many years ago.

While all this is going on, the former director of engineering at Public Services tells us – not that those who travel around the Island need telling – the main roads of Jersey have been left in a ‘dire and dangerous condition’.

Not that many years ago, on the day of the Budget debate in the Big House, as soon as the money asked for in respect of resurfacing main roads was approved by our elected representatives, Mr Winton’s department used to public a list of the highways which were going to be worked on in the ensuing 12 months. What was interesting about this was how closely it was examined by ordinary members of the public, and particularly those whose own bête noir was not listed, who rarely hesitated to make their feelings known – either through the letters columns in this newspaper or in person to States Members.

It would be nice if the Minister in charge of this department responded – not to my criticism but to that expressed by acknowledged expert Mr Winton – but somehow I doubt that anyone will bother to lift a pen.

I HAVE mentioned before that the older people get the more they tend to look back, sometimes but not always choosing to reflect upon the changes each decade (and often less) seem to bring. However, as the aged one used to say, some things never change and this is particularly true – but often forgotten, if the truth be known – when those of my generation and perhaps even the one below us raise their eyebrows at the lifestyle of that group which tends to be blamed for many of society’s ills; teenagers.

My own time as a teenager coincided with the Teddy Boy era – the posh name was Edwardian – and the national newspapers of the day carried lurid stories of flick knives, knuckle dusters and other weapons carried by youths clad in drain pipe trousers, three quarter length jackets with velvet collars, long hair with the back done in DA fashion (just think of a duck’s rear end if you’ve never heard the expression) and what seemed like half a barrel of axle grease plastered all over it, and of course suede shoes with soles of crepe an inch thick – known, particularly by those like me who could never afford them, as brothel creepers, if sensitive souls will pardon the expression.

Since then we’ve had, among others, mods and rockers, punks with their piercings and a plethora of groups whose names or titles I probably couldn’t remember if I rehearsed for a fortnight. All have had one thing in common – whether justifiably or not they have had more than their share of bad publicity and, as a result, it’s probably fair to say that the actions of the very small minority have rebounded adversely on the majority.

So, by way of making amends for the often sweeping generalisations in which I and many others have condemned the innocent, so to speak, can I draw attention to the quite astonishing figure of £166,000 raised by young people in this community during the last three years in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust?

Just to put that figure into perspective, it is more than a grand every single week for each of those three years and, as someone who in the past has been involved to a comparatively small degree in fundraising, believe you me that takes some doing.

Everyone involved is a credit to themselves and their generation and can take great pride in their achievement.

And finally,

I endorse totally the comments of two recent correspondents who criticised music in shops. It’s awful and unnecessary.