Parish voices need to be heard by States

Will a deputy operating on an island-wide mandate roll up their sleeves to fight for what may at first glance simply be a parochial issue?

Who will stand up when, say, shortcomings in the Island Development Plan and building policies at large lead to green lungs in the Vale or St Sampson's being lost forever while brownfield sites remain as a scar on the landscape?

How does the temperature of public opinion get measured and balanced when there are no obvious representatives to go to?

All is not lost, and opportunities abound.

In theory at least, any deputy concerned with over-development should be there to take up the cudgels. Not only did individuals campaign on this issue, the Guernsey Party’s manifesto included a pledge to stop the building-over of the remaining green sites around the St Sampson's/Vale urban areas and the amendment of some or all of the new Housing Allocation Areas.

We await with interest what action its members take to see the policy through.

This is also the time when the douzaines need to stand up and be counted – room has been created for them to grow to be even more of a reliable champion of their parish’s needs. For that to happen, there needs to be reliable channels of communications opened up with States committees.

Policy & Resources has overall responsibility for the relationship between the States and the parish authorities, and last term a Douzaine Liaison Group managed that – there has been no public update to its membership since the election and three of the four members are no longer in the Assembly.

Parish representation is evolving, just as it did when the douzaine representatives were removed from the Assembly.

It is still early days, but what needs to be resolved is how this States and the parishes themselves intend to ensure the bonds are not weakened, that voices do not go unheard and damaging policies go unchallenged as a result.