It has been my honour to serve the Parish and Island as Constable of St Mary and I believe I have discharged the administrative, executive and political aspects of the rôle conscientiously, diligently and effectively. I have assembled a strong team in the Municipality and I am grateful for their assistance there. In the States, I have worked in Scrutiny, on the Planning Applications Panel and latterly on the Access to Justice Review.
Having made significant progress against my last election pledges, I am seeking a further term to ensure that projects I have initiated to decisively address longstanding concerns of Parishioners will be delivered. After much lobbying, I secured funding in the Medium Term Financial Plan for Village Centre Improvements, then gained the support of TTS and following much consultation, the plans will be published in early October. This is the most important opportunity to improve road safety in St Mary for decades and it has rightly occupied the lion’s share of my time and effort. The project is complex and ties up many outstanding Parish objectives, which is why, at this critical point, I need your mandate to ensure that the momentum I have built up is not wasted. During the process I have identified other problem areas and looking positively towards the next phase, I have already raised these issues in both the Assembly and directly with the TTS Minister in order to address them as part of the Road Safety Strategy. This is long overdue and with your backing, I will endeavour to secure some level of political responsibility for this strategy and to deliver it swiftly.
The Parish System is what sets Jersey apart. I defend and promote it vigorously and understand how vulnerable it is in a world of increasing bureaucracy. My experience tells me that to be truly effective in their Parishes and to safeguard the honorary system, the Constables must continue to play a full, active rôle in the States Assembly. However we are at a crucial time when this rôle is the subject of a Referendum. Whatever your viewpoint and whatever the outcome, it is vitally important that this Parish has a strong and decisive Constable capable, if necessary, of bringing measures to the next States to ensure that the Parish voice will still be heard. I have that track record as I already continually scrutinise draft legislation for unintended consequences that could affect St Mary, raising my concerns in States debates.
I continue to work on areas of States policy where I feel weaknesses need to be addressed, including language tuition, immigration and economic diversity. There is more about this in my full manifesto.
I have been working hard on your behalf both in the Parish and the States. If you re-elect me, I pledge to continue the work I have started, to deliver the improvements I have promised and to safeguard the interests of the Parish of St Mary to the best of my ability.