Giving away valuable parking will discourage people from visiting Town
SO, EXTERNAL consultants recommend more space is needed for local freight services? Not just a bit more, but a whopping 40%. My worry is that this number is just the tip of the iceberg – in other words in a few years’ time they will want even more.
And why, yet again, are external consultants being hired, presumably at vast expense, who know nothing about the island and how it works?
It is hard enough to park in Town anyway these days. I live out of Town and rarely go in because of the difficulty of parking. I am a local woman and like to support our local shops. But giving away valuable (apparently ‘not a priority’) parking will just discourage more people from trying to get to Town and who will resort to buying online. Inevitably the shopkeepers, many of whom are struggling with high rents, will suffer from lack of footfall. Do the powers-that-be really want to kill off the Town as a shopping destination for islanders? Do they expect everyone to cycle to Town, including disabled or elderly people, or pregnant women, or people who are ill?
And lastly, why did the States not build a multi-storey car park with underground parking at the outset? And does the roll-on, roll-off system make the harbour cranes, which were replaced at huge expense only a few years ago, increasingly redundant?
Like many other local decisions, this sounds like a done deal already to me, so my words are probably wasted.
M Fewkes
Les Heches