Want to have influence? Get on the electoral roll

There seems to be much public objection to the latest Environment board proposals and I suggest that everyone who is against them contact your deputy to register your objection.

By all means attend peaceful public protests, but if you want real political weight behind it, you must tell your deputies what you think. The future of their jobs at the next election depends on your votes – if you are not on the electoral roll, get on it as soon as you can. No electoral roll equals no voice. Get off your bums, get over the Guernsey apathy and do something for yourselves. The weaker deputies depend on your laziness to keep them in a cosy, £30,000-a-year job.

Dear Ms Burford,

I wish to register my complete objection to your proposed width and emissions taxes and also paid parking.

As a motorcycle dealer, your proposals will benefit that side of my business, but, as a Guernseyman, I am completely against them.

However, another part of my business is selling fuel and I predict a large drop in fuel sales, which will firstly reduce my profits and the consequent Income Tax and Social Insurance I pay to the States, currently around £22,000 per annum, but secondly will reduce the fuel-duty revenue I collect for the States.

My little forecourt contributes over £259,000 per year in fuel duties and I estimate the total from all the garages is around £30m. Where will that money come from to replace those funds if we all travel around in lower-fuel-consumption vehicles? The Range Rover driver should be applauded for the amount he or she is contributing to society, not vilified. Surely it is not a crime to work hard and have a nice car if you want one? Before you start on about emissions and the polluter pays etc., what about the pollution aeroplanes create? What about the pollution boat owners create when they are burning 90 litres going to Jersey fuel-duty-free when the poor car driver gets hammered all the time?

There is a groundswell of opinion which is getting very fed up with our current assembly and it is regrettable that we do not have island-wide voting, as people in other electoral districts cannot vote against deputies who are unpopular, and unfortunately your name is frequently coming into that category.

While you are undoubtedly committed to your ideals, I and many others are not so convinced and see it as nothing more than dictatorship, which we thought had ended in 1945. I do not celebrate Liberation Day as I believe we already have too many restrictions on what we do and while some would point to other regimes with less freedom, we fought two world wars for freedom and liberty, which are being eroded every year.

I am too busy running my business to stand for the States but if I was to stand, the reversal of your policies would be one of my major campaign issues. I can only hope that those who do stand are of a like mind.

TREVOR HOCKEY,

Trev's Motorcycles.

Editor's footnote: Deputy Yvonne Burford, minister, Environment Department, responds: 'Thank you for providing the Environment Department with the opportunity to respond to your correspondent's letter regarding the proposed introduction of a First Registration Duty based on width and CO2 emissions.

With regard to the potential effect of the First Registration Duty proposals on fuel sales, I would point out that any decrease over and above the existing decline in fuel sales brought about by continued advancements in fuel-efficient technologies within the motor industry will be modest and incremental in nature as the effects of purchasing decisions filter through to the pumps. However, its potential impact on tax revenue needs to be recognised and this was addressed in the States report and an allowance for this was provided within the overall financial projections.

The overall package of proposals within the transport strategy is designed to influence change and to encourage people to think about their purchasing habits rather than prevent them from buying a car at all.

At present, half of all existing make and model variants registered last year would have fallen outside of the proposed width and CO2 charge bands and so there will be enormous scope to purchase a vehicle that meets an individual's or a family's needs without having to pay any duty at all. Furthermore, we have been listening to the many comments on social media and via email, phone and in person and will be proposing amendments to the policy in December that will lift more vehicles into the duty-free bands, among other changes.

Accordingly, to suggest that the public are being dictated to is a false accusation as nothing could be further from the truth. The transport strategy is about promoting alternative transport options with a set of reasoned and defined measures designed to influence, not enforce, change, thereby benefitting the community as a whole and, more importantly, providing improved transport options for those less fortunate members of society who for whatever reason are unable to own or drive a motor vehicle. It remains the case that many people on this island are concerned about the size of vehicles on our roads and this policy is designed to encourage a shift to smaller vehicles over a period of time.

It is not within this department's mandate to deal with the effects of emissions resulting from the marine and aviation industries but what we are doing is concentrating our efforts on the areas for which we do have responsibility.'