Deputies say their hands were forced on crematorium decision
ONE deputy who voted for Guernsey’s crematorium to remain at Le Foulon believes had consultation taken place before the States debate, the decision on the site’s future would have been deferred.
Others who voted for the States’ Trading Supervisory Board’s proposal to replace the 16-year-old facility at Le Foulon with a new one worth £3.9m. said they made the decision based on what was in front of them at the time and felt like they had no alternative but to agree.
An online petition has now been launched calling for a rethink, it has gathered more than 600 signatures.
At the time of the vote, Deputies Sarah Hansmann Rouxel and Emilie Yerby, attempted to delay the decision and have the States reconsider other sites that might provide a longer term and more accessible facility.
Although it failed, members did get a commitment from the STSB to ‘consult with disabled people’s and older people’s representative groups’ to improve accessibility.
Deputy Rhian Tooley, who voted for the failed sursis, said if the consultation had happened before the vote, the delaying motion would have succeeded.
‘As I said in my speech during the sursis debate, the existence of the cremator on the site of the Foulon should not be treated as evidence that site is suitable for a cremator with the current demand on such a service.’
After the move lost, Deputy Tooley voted for the amendment to direct the STSB to consult with stakeholders.
‘Only once this amendment had passed did I vote for the proposals,’ she said.
‘I am very concerned the plans for the new cremator will not give us as a population, what we need from it.
‘Had the consultation happened ahead of the sursis motive debate, I believe the sursis would have succeeded.’
The consultation took place on 25 July.
Both Deputy Hansmann Rouxel and funeral director Jai Vaudin have spoken out citing the accessibility of the site, with the latter creating a petition asking for the States to reconsider the issues installing the new crematorium there may cause.
Deputy Peter Roffey said with the evidence put in front of him at the time, he felt there was no alternative to voting as he did.
‘To be honest the last thing in the world I wanted to do was confirm the Foulon as the site for Guernsey’s crematorium in the medium to long term,’ he said.
‘As others have said, its challenges around access make it very far from ideal. The problem was instead of discussing this issue in principle five years ago with time to plan, it had been left very late in the day.
‘The existing cremator was approaching the end of its design life and we were told it was already becoming temperamental. If it had failed, cadavers would either need to be stored awaiting its repair or cremated off-island.
‘There was apparently no obvious alternative site identified despite many being considered and planning issues around designating a new site would have been complex and almost certainly created local opposition.
‘So I felt I had something of a gun to my head and voted accordingly.’
He added that he did not feel the petition would change the position, but a sensible and available alternative site would.
Because of issues raised regarding limitation of access, Deputy Laurie Queripel said he did not happily vote for the proposals.
'However, when the alternatives to the Foulon site were spoken about during debate I did cool to the amendment somewhat, especially as the most likely sites didn’t appear to even be in States ownership.
‘The idea of using the flat area adjacent to the cemetery office and store had crossed my mind but there probably isn’t enough space there and it would probably be too close to neighbouring properties.
‘I’m not sure how I would vote if the debate were to be run again, I suppose it would depend on how viable and practical the use of another identified site would be.’
n The petition can be found at https://bit.ly/2LUYoHT.
