Balance of homes and workplaces needs to be recalibrated

But I feel that it is well deserved in the case of the recent traffic survey.

Government needs data to be able to quantify into understandable information in relation to a problem and so attempt to find a solution.

In this case traffic flow etc.

I find it unbelievable that this survey took place at a time when not only were the colleges closed but also Le Val des Terres was closed for three days. Yes, those conditions can be factored in, but would not it have been better to have held the survey at a time when a full traffic flow was in operation? The results cannot be deemed to be a complete and accurate data snapshot of the traffic. Additional data inserted into the findings at a later date can only result in a fudge.

So we have some figures, albeit inaccurate overall – but I suppose better than none – and what do they tell us? They tell us what they know to be the obvious. We learn that the busiest roads out of Town are Glategny Esplanade and St Julian’s Avenue. Why would that be? Well because the majority of our population live north of the line from Town to Vazon and use those roads to commute to and from home to Town and back.

And in that last sentence we have the crux of the problem – commuting into Town and back home. The problem is not traffic. Traffic is only a symptom of the problem of building homes in the north of the island and having work places miles away in Town. Adding more homes in the north will not in any way solve this problem. Before you protest, neither will it be solved by building in the south. That will only create other problems down the line.

In days gone by, people would live close by to where they worked. Employers would even build houses close by for their employees to rent. Shopkeepers lived over the shop. Those days are long gone. Nowadays we have our own transport and are able to travel to and from work. But the possibility of being able to live close to a workplace has obvious advantages.

Why are there so many homes in the north? Precisely because that was where the work was – growing, quarrying, shipping etc. and services for industries and inhabitants. Nigh on all of them have gone now.

So having taken a pot-shot at the commissioners of the survey and now drifted into how to resolve the traffic problem, what do I offer as a possible resolution? The problem is the imbalance of home and workplace. The balance needs to be recalibrated. More homes nearer to workplaces and more workplaces nearer to homes. Convert offices in Town into apartments (many have their own underground car parks) and build office accommodation in the north of the island, at Leale’s Yard for example. What with more islanders being able to work from home and possibly working more flexible hours, the need for large offices may soon be a thing of the past. Vacating a large building in Town and relocating to a smaller office in the north may well make commercial sense in the near future.

I fully realise that this is not the panacea for all ills and that with more than one worker in a household whose employment may be at opposite ends of the island this is not a solution for all. But with more people living in Town and more people working in the north, it can only help regenerate both Town and the Bridge. Maybe not as we now know them, but can it be worse?

JOHN GILLSON

Les Tagarins

St Saviour’s GY7 9YD