Responding to a parishioner’s question, Constable Juliette Gallichan said that there were homes in the parish – and in other areas of the Island – where the costs of introducing utility infrastructure were prohibitive.
‘It is a situation where nobody wants to knuckle down and pay for it and the money is simply not available in the budget, so the money will have to come from somewhere else,’ she said.
Her opponent in the only contested Constable’s election, former St Mary Deputy John Le Bailly, said from his time in office he was aware of about 110 homes which relied on private sewage facilities and borehole water, some of which was polluted, so they had to use bottled water.
If elected, he added, he would work to rectify this situation, not just for parishioners but for residents in neighbouring St John.
More than 100 people packed into the Island’s smallest parish hall for a rematch of the 2014 Constable’s election, when having relinquished his seat as Deputy, Mr Le Bailly narrowly lost to Mrs Gallichan by 370 votes to 376.
The two St Mary stalwarts, with a combined total of almost 50 years’ service to the parish, got though about 20 questions in an hour and a quarter.
Mrs Gallichan was first elected as St Mary’s Deputy in 2005 and has served as Constable for ten years. Before being elected to political office she was parish secretary. Mr Le Bailly has also served the parish as a roads inspector, Constable’s Officer and Centenier.
The candidates were asked where they would like to see affordable homes built in the parish.
‘The only way for first-time-buyer homes to be really affordable is to build them on States land where the States keeps the equity,’ Mr Le Bailly said. ‘Someone in the parish may want to donate land in the parish where they could be built, but we would have to consult with residents around that land to see if they were in agreement.’
Mrs Gallichan said that discussions had been held with St Mary landowners but not all sites were suitable for development because of the location or lack of suitable infrastructure.
‘Rezoning green land is a really big step, but we need to be ready to go when the next Island Plan is debated,’ she said. ‘It is our parish and we have to decide the best way forward for it.’
Other subjects raised included firearms licences, assisted dying, what the candidates thought their best and worst attributes were, government reform, immigration controls and allowing large commercial businesses to operate in St Mary.
St Mary’s budget of £500,000 is small compared to the Island’s larger and more populated parishes. Monica Moore wanted to know how the candidates proposed to look after ratepayers’ money.
Mrs Gallichan said that when she worked in the finance industry she managed companies with budgets far greater than the parish budget she had overseen for the past ten years.
With over 40 years as a self-employed businessman, Mr Le Bailly said he had always had to budget very carefully.
‘If you look after the pennies,’ he added, ‘the pounds look after themselves, and we have some great experts around us.’
At the end of questions, former St Mary Deputy Derek Maltwood, who chaired the meeting, gave each candidate two minutes to sum up their campaigns.
Mr Le Bailly repeated his main message that the parish administration had to change and connect better with the electorate. Mrs Gallichan did not agree, saying that the parish was being run well and using many forms of communication, including social media, to involve the electorate.
