The speed trials controversy
IN GUERNSEY, as elsewhere, there are many motorsports enthusiasts. There are also many who view with concern the expansion of motorsports away from their traditional venues and the use of the island’s lanes as racetracks. Despite the island-wide nature of the speed trial stages organised by the Guernsey Rally Committee (GRC), objections have been largely on a parochial or an individual basis since the first event in 2018. There is a reason for this. The GRC contacts the douzaine in whose parish they propose to run a particular stage and leaflets houses along the routes, asking for support. Limiting information to the latter has given rise to the belief it is only some individuals on the route who object, motivated by a self-centred intolerance. In fact, whilst they are obviously the most directly impacted, they are also often amongst the few who were aware a speed trial would be taking place in their parish.
Over the years the licensing of speed trials and the like has been delegated by States committees to the civil servants at Traffic & Highways Services. THS are legally obliged to consult parish constables before closing roads for the events, but no more than that.
With the best will in the world, it is inevitable that the information dispensed by the GRC during their limited consultation has a degree of bias, as may their reporting. Recently a GRC representative said ‘only a very small number of people object’ following that up later in the interview with an estimate that about 60% of householders on any route support the rally. The truth is nobody has a clue what level of support there is for high-powered saloon cars racing through our narrow, winding lanes in speed trials.
The limited consultation can lead to unpredictable outcomes. Unless one has contacts in an adjoining parish one has no idea what might be happening there and how that may effect your parish. Stages can be flipped into your parish at short notice. For instance, following objections to a stage in one parish recently, the GRC re-routed it through a neighbouring parish, giving householders only a few days to register their support (or to object). THS may have stepped in because a second GRC leaflet was then distributed extending the grace period.
The GRC is nothing if not persistent. If a douzaine, reflecting parishioners’ objections, has not supported speed trials, the GRC may well propose a stage in that parish the following year. This has led to annual confrontations between the GRC with its supporters and those who believe speed trials are an inappropriate use of our lanes. Resulting in a considerable time-wasting by all parties.
THS recently announced that the 2023 speed trials have been given approval ‘in principle’. However no one outside the GRC or THS knows for certain if any particular rally stages have been approved or what the 19 conditions THS has imposed are.
There is no one way to bring an end to the conflict but it would help if a little local democracy was injected into the proceedings, rather than delegating the decisions to civil servants operating under an unseen ‘rally policy’. For instance, if a parish meeting was called where all opinions were expressed, a decision could be made on which, if any, local roads were available for a particular motorsport. Not perfect but democracy never is, and it would be more satisfactory than the present situation where parishioners have little input into decisions being made on their behalf.
The issue is much wider than the inconvenience, for a few days each year, of those living on the routes.
SHANE LANGLOIS
langlois.shane@gmail.com