Castel parish stalwart retires after 33 years

Serving in every role possible across his 33 years in parish affairs, Mr Fooks contributed to and led many parish projects.

Born in England during the Occupation, he has always lived in Castel, since his family returned to the island after the liberation.

‘I’d always been interested in what goes on in the douzaine,’ he said.

‘But I worked as a journalist between 1980 and 1987 and that’s what really sparked my interest in local politics and the douzaine.’

Mr Fooks entered Castel parish life as a procurer of the poor in 1988.

‘It was the normal way to join, as a procurer of the poor for two years, junior constable for one, and then progress to senior constable.’

Since then, he has fulfilled all possible roles in the douzaine, however has not favoured one over the others.

‘It’s all about the overall parish pride and making sure the parish looks neat and helping out parishioners,’ said Mr Fooks.

‘I enjoyed every role and being involved in the douzaine just became a part of my life.’

Mr Fooks said the work gave him the utmost satisfaction, and one of the highlights of his time in the douzaine was visiting Dorset to learn about land management for Vazon.

‘Not many parish douzaines got to go on trips like that, and so it was great that Castel got to go.’

With a passion for walking, he worked with the Tourist Board to set up walking routes in the parish, and was also involved in the development of Fairfield as a focus of parish life.

Among the more challenging periods for the parish was handling the dispute over the ownership of the Cobo car park – an issue that was finally resolved recently.

‘I recall that the first task I ever undertook for the parish was in 1988, when at the beginning of January several of us were involved in clearing the site after several years of complaints regarding the area,’ he said.

‘Particularly during the last 15 years a considerable amount of time has been expended by parish officials, including the previous dean, the late Nick Dorey, myself, and the present dean David Ozanne.

'I know we have all spent many hours in deliberation with a range of people.

‘Cobo is arguably the “centre” of the parish and this is good news for everybody and means that the only mists to contend with are those that nature brings to the area.’

Mr Fooks would recommend getting involved with the parish douzaine to people of all ages.

‘It’s such a satisfying job and it’s a really good entry for anyone interested in politics.’

He said that he will still be helping out in the parish as there are always things to be done.

‘I’ll always be involved and provide assistance, I’ll just be taking a more background approach.’

Mr Fooks intends on spending his new spare time with family and continuing his walking hobby.