People in Town raise issues with constables

It was one of the main issues raised at the St Peter Port constables’ drop-in on Saturday.

Residents complained that unlabelled black bags were being dumped at places such as Arcade Steps, without consequence for the perpetrators.

Constable Zoe Lihou promised to raise the matter with the community police officers and lobby for the installation of temporary cameras.

Another issue raised was noisy motorbikes, with appeals for riders to end the practice of boring a hole in the silencer, which creates the loud revving sound.

One resident of The Strand said that noisy motorbikes were ruining the peace by tearing up and down the street.

He added that the police should not need new legislation, because it should already be banned under anti-social behaviour laws, and the law around invalidated insurance.

Mrs Lihou thought that a concentrated police campaign would be the most effective way of persuading young people not to illegally alter their machines.

There was a steady stream of parishioners through the open doors of the constables office, talking about everything from loose cobbles to Travel Tracker problems, over-hanging conifers to anti-social cyclists.

It was not just brickbats, there were also bouquets for the douzaine for achieving the alcohol-free zone in Church Square which will allow the benches to be brought back.

Jacky Meinke raised the matter of street lighting.

‘We were walking home from the Harbour Carnival on Friday night and we walked past the court building and then up New Street and all that way there was no street lighting, the bulbs had gone.

‘I was quite spooked, and I thought it’s too dark, we need the bulbs replacing, so I came along to tell them and they said they’d look into it.

‘I also came to congratulate Zoe [constable Zoe Lihou] on getting an alcohol-free zone in Church Square, I was really pleased with that.'

Husband Chris wanted to highlight a potential danger to pedestrians.

‘I’m a former douzenier and I’m very concerned about the amenities of St Peter Port, the things that are broken, the things that don’t work, but particularly cycling in pedestrian areas is something I raised at the drop-in.

‘I had a sympathetic hearing and I hope they will eventually manage to cut down on cycling in pedestrian areas because it can be dangerous.’

All of the points raised by parishioners were noted and catalogued, and douzenier Mary McDermott said they try their best to resolve matters or point people in the right direction.

‘I would hope that they do feel that we can do something about their concerns, it’s not always as immediate as they would like,' she said.

‘Occasionally the issues that are raised are not within our jurisdiction to deal with and we can’t be responsible for another department. But we do try very hard and we ensure that all the comments are passed on, and where possible we try to get back to people with an outcome.’