AFTER numerous questions, confusion, interruptions, an appearance from the former Chief Minister – and even an accusation that communism had finally taken root in Jersey – St Peter parishioners decided to delay a vote on whether to make changes to a road by several weeks…
On paper, the agenda for the parish assembly was straightforward.
Those in attendance were being asked to agree to alterations to sections of La Verte Rue – which already had the backing of the parish roads committee – to help facilitate the development of housing on adjacent fields. Although very little was revealed about the scheme itself, some representatives for the companies involved – including Dean Hacquoil of building contractor Hacquoil and Cook, as well as Bob Godel of Godel Architects – tried their best to answer questions posed by parishioners at Thursday evening’s meeting.
Several residents gasped loudly upon hearing the site was earmarked in the Bridging Island Plan, which was agreed in 2022, for as many as 130 homes, although no number was given for how large the development would actually be.
A number of parishioners also took issue with the lack of information they had been provided about the scheme – and whether they should even be making the roads decision without it – with one resident questioning whether Constable Richard Vibert had “put the cart before the horse”.
Another went as far as to query whether the parish was moving from a democracy to “a communist state”.
A back-and-forth over whether residents could be provided with “an outline sketch” of the scheme also proved fruitless.
The Constable stressed that “nothing underhand” had been done and pointed out that the plans were neither being developed by the parish – nor had they even reached the planning stage – but this remained a point of contention for the rest of the evening.
It was coupled with an equally strong parochial concern as to how traffic would be affected by the changes, with Mr Vibert acknowledging it would have been “useful” to have a representative from the government’s Infrastructure Department present.
Former Chief Minister Kristina Moore joined parishioners in questioning how much consultation had been carried out before the meeting.
After more than an hour of debate, which included parishioners interrupting each other, the occasional mobile phone going off and not much progress being made with the agenda, the parish decided to adjourn on the basis that developers would hold engagement sessions and return in around five weeks with more details about what was being proposed.
