WITH a district that is home to Havre des Pas, the Waterfront, Fort Regent and several other political hot potatoes, those vying for a St Helier South Deputy seat will have a tough job on their hands.
The hustings event this week got so lively that the audience had to be issued a “no-heckling rule” around 50 minutes in.
There are nine candidates seeking one of the three Deputy seats – incumbents Deputies Tom Coles and Beatriz Porée alongside newcomer Carla Jardim formed the Reform Jersey contingent, facing off against People First’s Nick Le Cornu and Andrew Sinclair, and independents Bernie Manning, Jason Lagadu, Samantha Gleave and Judy Martin – the latter two of which have both endorsed Value Jersey.
Housing and planning was a consistent theme throughout the period of questions, with districts voters concerned about the Islandwide push for more homes against the growing pressure on St Helier for space.
All candidates agreed that the district was overdeveloped with Ms Gleave stating that the construction industry needs far more certainty on planning laws so it “can invest”, while Ms Jardim argued that St Helier needs more family and downsizer homes rather than flats.
Mr Lagadu said that “thousands of units [are] being created with not enough space to enjoy it” – citing Lucas House, the Apollo and Mornington Hotels, Ann Street Brewery and Cyril Le Marquand Court. He called for “controls and restrictions” that would create amenities like parks near housing developments.
Former Deputy Mr Le Cornu reasoned that “the ruling class in Jersey does not want their green northern parishes with working-class housing”. He too called for more amenities, leading him to call for an extension to Millennium Park.
Mr Manning said it was “time we start looking outside of St Helier” and suggested utilising derelict greenhouses in more rural parishes to support housing.
Deputy Porée, who was first elected in 2022, called for improved access to open spaces for parishioners and suggested a masterplan for St Helier, with a specific focus on planning rules.
Judy Martin, seeking a States return after losing her seat four years ago, said: “We need homes, we need staff accommodation, we also need people to be able to go somewhere, because it all knocks on.
“If people are coming and going away, it affects transport and our flights, we’ll get less people coming in and we’ll lose some operators, so we are a very fine balance, and I’m quite worried, actually.”
Mr Sinclair echoed Mr Le Cornu’s about social housing being too concentrated in town.
Providing adequate parking and “critical public infrastructure” such as schools was top of the housing agenda for Deputy Coles. The Island Plan “is not working properly – it does need review”, he added.
The conversation later moved on to whether housing for residents or seasonal workers in tourism should be prioritised.
Mr Manning felt staff accommodation needed to be better than “just a small room that two people share,” adding “hotels should go back to housing their own workers”.
“We’re literally on the precipice – people won’t come to Jersey because they’ve got nowhere to go,” said Ms Martin.
Deputy Porée said both needed prioritising – but that she would break it down further to focus on improving the standards in the lodging houses seasonal staff live in. With some big hotels lost, she envisages “a new touristic industry” with different types of accommodation, such as B&Bs.
Mr Sinclair felt that while employers needed to house their staff, the government’s focus should be on housing for residents and key workers.
” Lodging houses need to be reviewed in terms of how they’re managed”, said Deputy Coles. “We have no idea how to build staff accommodation – so let’s go back and figure out how to build accommodation that people can actually live in.”
Ms Gleave agreed with Porée, citing George Castrudes, who died in his accommodation on a farm – which “reflected so poorly on us as a society and as an Island”. Besides addressing staff accommodation, she called for an audit to find out what housing is needed. Tourism, meanwhile, could benefit from thinking “outside the box” and working with agencies – and a vibrant community in the district.
While campaigning, Ms Jardim said she had been “appalled” at the condition of some lodging houses and added that standards need to be revised. She also recounted living in one-bedroom bedsit as a child – and how the improvement in housing options was “night and day” after her family received housing qualifications.
Mr Lagadu’s solution was to introduce work permits and a points system like Australia and New Zealand, and then introduce a third category of housing qualifications, while Mr Le Cornu cited “two classes of citizen” created by the Housing Law. The People First leader said there are areas of St Helier that “should be subject to slum clearance because they are so dreadful”.
