Town is currently buzzing following the success of the first Seafront Saturdaze event last weekend, an event marking the 200th anniversary of the Commercial Arcade, and the Street Festival running until the end of next week.
But the parish wants to do something more permanent, enhancing both its appearance, with a renewed focus on flowers, and vibrancy.
‘We noticed a number of complaints about things like litter, weeds and our lovely Victorian lamp posts being replaced by horrible, modern, stainless steel things,’ said constable Ken Acott.
He said concerns about accessibility over the cobbled streets, no drop kerbs and not enough seating were also being raised.
‘It occurred to me that whilst we don’t as a douzaine have responsibility or authority to make these changes, we can try to coerce and encourage people, organisations and the States to do more,’ he said.
‘I don’t want to be critical of the past, but the douzaine hasn’t really done a huge amount over the past few years. The vast majority of parishioners haven’t got a clue what it does, so we wanted to reinvigorate it and make it more relevant.’
Project St Peter Port wants more involvement from the community, looking for volunteers to bring ideas and help to make them happen. That could lead to more formal involvement with the parish – he said that the douzaine was currently four people short.
The main focus is clearing-up the town – tackling weeds, fly-tipping, abandoned and overflowing bins, as well as rubbish linked to scaffolding. It is looking for support from current retailers and hospitality businesses to maintain their own outside spaces. An area of particular focus will be the North Plantation.
Art for Guernsey’s street art project in Mansell Street is seen as a positive and it is hoped that other projects could bring colour and life to the old streets, including revitalising the douzaine’s floral committee.
Prison governor John De Carteret has offered to provide and maintain benches made by the prison workshop and put working groups together for clean-up projects.
There are also plans to manage and control the cost of electricity through street lighting, as well as updating the Town’s decorative lights at Christmas and introducing similar displays for more occasions, such as Halloween.
‘This is a project that is almost outside of the normal things the douzaine will be doing,’ said Mr Acott.
‘There’s a huge amount to do and it’s going to take time and collective effort.
‘But hopefully it becomes a virtuous circle and people will take pride in their own patch so we can make St Peter Port as attractive a place as possible for everyone to enjoy.’
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