Does St Helier have a "character" in 2019?

Following the workshop on 25 October 2019 - I went an a search around St Helier trying to identify if St Helier has a "character".

I presume that the Willie Miller organised discussion was more about current appearance than past history but I find it difficult to separate these matters.

My first video below arose from an entirely chance encounter with Mick Millar whose family were the founders of  John Terry Ltd in the mid 19th century.
The original John Terry was from Yorkshire and he built up one of the major agricultural merchant's businesses in St Helier which survived into the 1970s.
Mick Millar kindly showed me around his building which has long diversified into other uses but retains so many traditional features. It describes - with Mick Millar's help - precisely what I want to say and much more.

There were many such businesses in St Helier and this is the central theme of my observation that growing potatoes, tomatoes and flowers etc was not solely a countryside activity. It was integrally linked to the merchants in St Helier and the buildings of the town were inevitably an integral part too.
Thus there were  many dozens of  granite merchants' stores and they were critical ingredients of the character of St Helier and the commercial and social life of the whole Island.

Through the merchants' activities the agriculture of the country was brought into the town.
Unlike today where agriculture is a country matter, in the past it was an essential part of the whole of Island life.
The merchants were active all the year round. They employed workers who lived in St Helier, drank in the pubs and spent their wages in local shops. There was no agriculture / town divide as exists today. Working clothes were not banned in workers pubs. To a large extent the merchants buildings and their activities created the "character" of St Helier.

This no longer exists today.
St Helier has no unifying purpose now. No traditional merchants stores survive providing their traditional purpose. Some have been "converted" into other commercial uses and a few serve as facades only to banking or finance sector activities. There is a curious need for the "planners" to preserve the illusion of the historic and traditional uses and the John Terry buildings will it seems follow suit soon. Some traditional features only will survive when it is inevitably  redeveloped.

Meanwhile Jersey still retains a diminishing "agri" sector which still sets the "character" standard for the country parishes of brown cows in green fields and potato growing.
Although there is a desperate shortage of land for building houses across the Island - the agri lobby resists the release of any land for this purpose. Yet it is also evident that many landowners would be pleased to develop some land and the agri sector faces a doubtful future.
At the same time the "planners" insist on cramming  housing accommodation into St Helier or other "built-up areas" and maintain an obsession with creating "zones" so that housing and commercial or entertainment activities are kept apart - and often sterile - whilst the Finance Sector (now the major source of wealth for the Island) has some special status that demands isolation and an architectural banality all of its own. It has not become an integral part of St Helier and its "character" - on the contrary its activities are largely remote and secret and it shows.

My second video looks at some of these aspects of St Helier where "character" has become the servant of the motor vehicle.
It is appropriate that the sound on my recording is almost inaudible due to the overbearing "traffic noise" and I make no attempt to remedy this

Audrey Murphy Chief Inspector at Jersey Care Commission speaking on 16 October 2019

Audrey Murphy is a former social worker who was appointed as Chief Inspector of the Jersey Care Commission effective from 2 September 2019. Her salary is not known.

This video of her speaking at the Jersey Disability Partnership meeting was recorded on  16 October 2019.

The sound quality is very poor.
The Disability Partnership provided no sound system.
It is especially difficult  to hear some of the questions asked by the audience.

If anybody knows how to add sub-titles or captions to this video please make yourself known.

Contact Mike Dun by PM if you have any queries or want to record a video on disability or other matters.

St Helier Jersey - Urban Character workshop - Willie Miller consultant - 25 October 2019

If you have difficulty sleeping this blog might help.
Planners and designers are especially boring talking about their work and here is a video extract from the discussion on St Helier Jersey's future in conjunction with the latest Island Plan now being produced.

This video extract lasts about 34 minutes in total.

It was taken from the second part of the "urban character" discussion  open to the general public. It lasted about 2 hours.
The first part was with civil servants and States Members the same day .

Willie Miller Urban Design from Glasgow have visited Jersey before (eg 2005) and seem to specialise in organising such events.

I asked to video record the proceedings and this was agreed but some members of the public did not want to appear.
I offered to supply paper bags to put on their heads but this was declined. So this shortened recording of the proceedings does not include images of the 18 or so public participants.
Hopefully it might be of some interest to the 106,000 residents of Jersey who did not attend the discussions - but I doubt it.

The discussion was based upon the premise that St Helier has an "urban character" at all  but this was not really discussed . It was one of several unsubstantiated "givens" such as the inevitability of population growth in Jersey over the next 10 years or so and the presumption that new housing stock will have to be built and that a major part will have to be built in St Helier.

There was no analysis of the economic drivers that might give rise to further population growth or decline.
It seems that past growth is accepted as inevitable in the future too although the likely further decline of tourism and agriculture was not discussed nor how much land in other parishes might thereby become available for development or other uses.

There was no discussion of Brexit or Climate Change or the Finance Sector.
There was no mention of the 360 or so International Conventions, Treaties or Obligations that Jersey has signed up to according to the current Island Plan nor how these might relate to St Helier or the whole Island over the next 10 years.

This is especially odd since discriminatory policies already apply to the enjoyment of housing accommodation and employment and it is currently proposed to introduce even more restrictive regulations to discourage immigration and restrict population growth. This "hostile environment" policy appears to be embraced for the future without challenge.

Although Jersey currently has 20,000 residents who are required to apply for "settled status" as nationals of EU countries only 7,000 have to date done so. According to the law those who do not apply before the end of 2020 will be liable to deportation.

Such factors can have a substantial impact on the "character" of St Helier and the whole Island.
It seems that many of the issues that relate to the future planning of Jersey remain unresolved or researched just as they were 10 years ago. 
This workshop might appear to be based upon superficial economic and population predictions that have not been adequately researched or challenged.

Disability and Discrimination in Jersey

Social Security Minister Deputy Judy Martin spoke at the Jersey Disability Partnership meeting on 16 October 2019.
The Deputy has been given responsibility for "disability matters" including the implementation of the strategy that is a long time coming. I don't know her precise terms of reference or responsibilities.

Deputy Martin was first elected to the States in 2000 and this meeting was held in the St Paul's Centre main hall where acoustics is always a problem.
No microphones were in use on this occasion which is especially bad when disability in all its form was the basis of the agenda - although a lectern with microphone  facility was visible.

The quality of sound on the video posted here is poor and questions from the audience were especially difficult to hear or record.
Other speakers were also recorded and will be posted if I can salvage enough  material that can be heard.

I regret not having the technical ability yet to post captions on my blogs but am trying to learn.

I have campaigned on discrimination and disability issues for a lifetime and despair that the people and government of Jersey will ever take this problem seriously. There will never be adequate funding and the endless talking and writing of reports seems to be some sort of an obsession.
I have studied and gained a qualification in Environmental Access and Design which includes undertaking access audits. 

Of course there are groups and societies and some businesses  doing great and meaningful  work but my criticism are mainly directed at the Jersey government and the States Members who have consistently failed to tackle the immense problems that affect so many people.

Deputy Martin  says she will be encouraging ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - which is good - but it is not necessary to wait years for this to happen.
 If the government is serious it can follow the standards laid down  without actually ratifying through the UK - and Deputy Martin can do this. There is no need to wait for others (such as the UN) to push the local agenda.

When Deputy Martin was an Assistant Minister with special responsibility for children many years ago the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child had not been ratified but I am not aware that she used it to guide her political decision making.
Subsequently Jersey has experienced the painful Independent Jersey Care Inquiry and the exposure of the "Jersey Way" and much much more and this cost nearly £25 millions. But it was only as a result of that Inquiry's work that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified for Jersey.

Sadly, I am not at all convinced that Deputy Martin has grasped the scale of the problem that exists in Jersey or the potential funding that will be required. But I wish her well.

My video recording of Deputy Judy Martin follows below;

I welcome comments and will record video interviews with those who express an interest.
Contact me as Mike Dun by PM on Facebook

Jersey Hemp - A tour with Glyn Mitchell (soil specialist) October 2019

This video was recorded in October 2019.
Glyn Mitchell kindly showed us around so that we can better understand what hemp production means in Jersey in 2019.
Glyn explains how hemp is grown and harvested, how it relates to other crops such as the Jersey potato and the products that can be made from this remarkable plant.
He also explains about the organic nature of the all important soil that is essential for the growth of the finest quality hemp.

The video below follows Glyn around the Jersey Hemp premises at Warwick Farm and shows how it is cultivated and processed ;

This video below shows the shop on the premises where some hemp products can be purchased by the general public ;