Guernsey Tomorrow Public Exhibition
The next stage for public input into the review of the States Strategic Land Use Plan starts this week [Wednesday 2 December].
The Guernsey Tomorrow project will be on display, with an exposition of ideas and opinions raised by islanders so far, staged at Checkers, Admiral Park, and then the former Guernsey Post Office in Smith Street over the next week and a half.
People will be asked for their views on progress made through the two phases of Guernsey Tomorrow before the States considers proposals for the new Strategic Land Use Plan next year.
David Twigg, Strategic Planning Officer at the Policy Council and lead officer for Guernsey Tomorrow, said:
‘We wanted to involve a wide cross section of people – not just the “usual suspects” – and I am pleased to say that a wide range of people have got involved. Now we would like as many people as possible to come along to the exhibition and let us know their views.
‘What we have found is that people of all ages tend to be concerned about similar things and share similar ideas about how to make the island a better place for everyone. Though some things, like land reclamation, remain controversial issues with strongly-held views for and against.’
The exhibition starts at Checkers on Wednesday 2 December from 3-6pm, and continues at the same time on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday the displays will be manned by staff from 10am to 7pm.
Next week it moves to Smith Street from 12-3 on Wednesday 9 December and from 12-3 and again from 7-9pm the following day.
The Guernsey Tomorrow initiative has gathered the thoughts and ideas of islanders young and old to feed into the review of the Strategic Land Use Plan.
The plan is an important statutory document, setting the high-level agenda for the plans which are used to shape the island we live in.
The first round of consultation involved more than 600 people from a broad cross-section of the public in terms of age, gender and interests. About a third were under 19. There were 13 workshops and a public drop in attracted 140 people. This stage identified a list of 32 headline issues and 50 ‘good, bad and ugly’ aspects of the island which were used in the second round to help people develop their views and produce ideas for future planning of the island.
About 100 people were involved in the second phase, where groups produced maps depicting their ideas, supported by a set of key action points. Those maps form a key part of the exhibition.
A survey of participants has revealed that since taking part, the number of people who thought their participation would have no effect on policy formulation fell to just 11% and the number who felt that their contribution would directly influence strategic policy more than doubled.
Some 80% of those taking part felt that they had gained insight into the complexities of planning for the island’s future.
Work has started on developing a report for debate by the States next year, which will be completed following the feedback from the public exhibition.
