Launch of Guernsey Tomorrow
What will Guernsey look like a generation on?
That is the question that Chief Minister Deputy Lyndon Trott wants answered, and islanders are being asked to get involved in a major consultation process that will help shape our future.
The States formally launches ‘Guernsey Tomorrow’ – an unprecedented consultation process, particularly aimed at younger residents – with an interactive workshop for more than 60 invited guests on Saturday (20 September) at Les Cotils.
There islanders from many of the island’s non-governmental organisations – and without States deputies – will discuss development pressures, opportunities and constraints facing the island now and over the next 20 years or so.
It is then hoped that those individuals – and others who may wish to come forward – will champion the consultation process, and, using pre-prepared ‘action packs’, take the workshop concept back to their own organisations, groups and friends to allow the States to take the widest feedback possible.
‘Saturday is just the start of the consultation process,’ said Deputy Bernard Flouquet, Deputy Chief Minister and Chair of the Strategic Land Planning Group.
‘We have never done anything quite like this before and I’m excited to see how much response we can generate. Every islander has a view about Guernsey today and its future and Guernsey Tomorrow really wants to tap into that.’
Guernsey Tomorrow is an initiative from the Policy Council’s Strategic Land Planning Group’s review of the States Strategic Land Use Plan, which prioritises how we all inhabit and use the space we have in the island. This plan sets the direction for the Environment Department to produce the Urban and Rural Area Plans, and therefore has a real influence on the future ‘shape’ of Guernsey.
A baseline study on information about the island and how it is changing has been prepared and is being regularly updated. This evidence is aimed to inform the process before islanders identify the key issues, challenges and opportunities Guernsey is facing.
Once these issues are known, again people will be asked to generate options for the future direction of the island.
‘Our island is changing and so is the world around us,’ said Deputy Flouquet.
‘There are some concerns about the impacts of further development and change on the quality of life in the island – it’s sustainability in other words.
‘How we respond and adapt to change will affect where we live, where we work and our general well-being and quality of life.
‘We want to know what people think about the way that the island is changing. By working with islanders, we want to find the best options for the way forward.’
A second major workshop event will be held later in the year and a ‘Green Paper’, outlining some possible options, should be prepared for a States debate by the middle of next year.
