Bugs or building? It’s a scaly issue at eco hustings

But the response from most candidates on the panel was slightly less simple, opting for ‘both’ as their answer.

‘This sums up the exact dilemma we have. We need development, but we need to protect our biodiversity,’ said candidate Jennifer Strachan.

‘We’ve tasked an agency who have come up with some excellent plans, and they’ve also done a huge amount of work in trying to figure out how to move the scaly crickets from one place to another.’

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Meanwhile Sally Rochester, a candidate with an environmental background, said that the issue was not so much about the scaly crickets, but the underlying principles.

‘This is the conversation we need to have about protecting and enhancing biodiversity, because it not only helps our mental and physical health, or helps us to address climate change, but it provides a foundation for business to thrive as well,’ she said.

Deputy Aidan Matthews said that it was not an either or question, but both were possible, and a suitable location could be found for the scaly crickets.

The eco hustings were organised by ocean conservation charity, Blue Marine Foundation, La Societe and local volunteers, and was chaired by Freddie Watson, Channel Island project manager for Blue Marine Foundation.

Candidates gave two minute statements outlining their environmental and sustainability objectives, and were questioned by voters and given just 40 seconds to answer.

The four available sessions of eight candidates were popular among the prospective politicians, with all 32 spots claimed in a first-come first-served basis.

First up were new faces Stuart Jehan, Sally Rochester, Jennifer Strachan and current deputies Aidan Matthews, Tina Bury, Andy Cameron, John Gollop and Rob Prow.

Although the number of candidates awaiting their turn and listening to what their competitors had to say outweighed the number of voters in attendance.

Candidate Ross Le Brun asked from audience what each candidate would do to make the roads safer for children to be able to take themselves to school.

Perhaps out of habit, or perhaps to make a statement at environmental-themed hustings, Deputy Matthews and Deputy Cameron both had their cycle helmets on the table in front of them for the duration.

Deputy Matthews agreed with Mr Le Brun – both have a young child – and said he would not let him ride to school by himself due to his safety concerns.

‘Every time this comes up in an E&I meeting I’m asking what we can do,’ he said.

‘Our roads were built for horses and carts and putting two-way traffic on them, we often don’t have pavements in the right places. Some steps have been taken with school streets, but we need to look if we can put one-way systems in some places, or have cycle lanes or contraflow.’

Deputy Cameron said that he was a keen cyclist and sat on several school committees.

‘This is something that I have pushed for,’ he said.

‘St Martin’s is a good example with its school street, whereas for other schools there is none. A cycle contraflow is the answer for a lot of places and it’s something that I would work on for schools, particularly for Capelles which is lethal, and secondary schools also.’

Home Affairs Committee president Rob Prow said that road safety around schools had been pushed up his committee’s agenda in this past States term.

‘The police have done some public surveys and road safety comes right at the top of the issues,’ he said.

‘We have a nightmare road system, so I would work with E&I and Home Affairs to push this up the entire political agenda.’

Other topics raised during the first session included marine protected areas, whether Guernsey has the assets and leverage to make a meaningful impact on the global environment, and how to incentivise the incorporation of sustainability across businesses in Guernsey.