IT IS very important that the island remembers the events of the First World War and in particular the role that Guernseymen played in it, according to Lt-Governor Vice-Admiral Sir Ian Corder and Bailiff Sir Richard Collas, patrons of the RGLI Charitable Trust.
GUERNSEY RUGBY CLUB'S players are putting their power behind our Guernsey's Finest Hour Appeal.
IT is a landmark moment in our island's history, yet no lasting memorial at home or abroad marks the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry's heroic role in the Great War.
OFFICIAL data released by the department for Education show that 94 per cent of children at Grammar Schools have made good progress by the time they are 16, compared with less than half (49 per cent) of students at non-selective schools. These figures are a boost for Theresa May's plans to overturn the ban on grammar schools imposed by Labour some 20 years ago.
I HAVE to admit I'm ashamed that I voted for Barry Paint. It is patently obvious that what you thought were understanding people, who move with the times, are not. What an excuse – 'my inbox is full'. I can have 300 emails in my inbox and it's still not full.
WE WERE driving around the coast road on 31 October and were disappointed to see that the elephant sculpture was not in place at Albecq. We were curious to know why it had been removed as we had admired it, and felt that, together with the one on the Bridge, this sculpture carried a very worthwhile message. Later we were horrified to read in the Guernsey Press of 31 October that they had been removed for safety reasons. What a joke.
ONE way to lessen the tax burden in regard to the bus subsidy would be to make all tickets non-transferable. As the owner of a small unit of visitor accommodation, I was surprised to hear that several guest couples, having set off to purchase two x two day passes at £7.50 each, were advised to buy a Puffin Pass, one between the two of them, at £15 which would then last them the whole week.
ONCE again the corporate communication manager of Condor Ferries has had the unenviable task of providing a 'smoke and mirrors' response to a letter published in your newspaper. This time it's to avoid answering the questions posed by John Schute (Open Lines, 23 September) about the ownership and control of Condor Ferries. She tells us that Condor Ferries was established in Guernsey in 1964, and that they 'are proud to be a Guernsey company'. Well, I certainly don't dispute that Condor may be a Guernsey-registered company, and has its formal meetings here, but this is not at all the same thing as who has ownership and control, as any accountancy student could tell you. So anybody can see that they are just sidestepping the question.
THE new Island Development Plan will shortly come before the States of Deliberation for consideration. Guernsey is an island with scarce land resources and has historically developed in a dispersed settlement pattern. The Island Development Plan has failed to address the redundant glasshouse issue and this failure will serve only to perpetuate the visual harm caused by numerous redundant glasshouses across the island.
IT WAS hugely disappointing to read (Opinion column, Monday 12 September) that the decision by my colleagues on the Committee for Home Affairs and me to decline the request to fly the rainbow banner from the States prison, police headquarters and fire station last Saturday has been dismissed as both mean-spirited and a mistake. It was neither. When the committee was asked for a decision – and we may well have been the sole committee whose members were even aware there was a decision to make – the easiest thing to do would have been unthinkingly to jump on a seemingly popular bandwagon and give our consent.
EXTEND the runway? Perhaps the question is 'where?' rather than 'how much?'. Deputy Peter Ferbrache's quite reasonably stated approach to the question of extending the airport runway in both the pages of the Guernsey Press and on other media includes the words: 'business case'. Perhaps we should also consider his words: 'open for business'.
RE. THE war memorial – nice to see sense has prevailed and it's going to be left where it is. Two very good letters recently in the Press, one by Vic Froome and one by Mr Furrer, supporting the memorial.
RE: THE Weighbridge House planning application. Isn't it marvellous how some people/companies can get their applications through a department so quickly, whereas the ordinary man who tries gets refused, put back, referred to other departments, all to no avail.
I HAVE long been in favour of some sort of island-wide voting, mostly so that I can vote for persons from other areas who would do a good job. But secondly so that I could vote for anybody in order to prevent a nincompoop I don't like from getting in.
I READ the two letters in the Guernsey Press last Thursday. One, from a teacher, was clearly passionate and from the heart. The second from Mr Raymond was written from the head. Sadly, politicians and academics seem unable to accommodate the lessons of history, thinking that it will be different this time.
