Al fresco smoking ban considered in St Helier

Al fresco smoking ban considered in St Helier:

"Geraint Jennings, a parish Procureur du Bien Public said the potential ban would "ensure people's health" and "put children first".

He added al fresco areas "were not dedicated smoking areas" and were more for people to enjoy drinking and dining outside."

Eune arlévée d'fanne à Saint Saûveux

A fundraising afternoon tea with entertainment was held at Saint Saviour's Parish Hall on Saturday with tables of Jèrriais speakers and supporters from all the Parishes. The event was organised by Le Congrès des Parlers Normands et Jèrriais to raise money to enable the hosting of La Fête Nouormande in Jersey (due year after next - it comes round every 3 years).

Among the entertainment there were readings by young and old - including a reading from the new book "Bram & Elie" - and performances by a skeleton-crewed Badlabecques. Among the songs was this one, to which I contributed the Jèrriais lyrics - it's a translation of Leonard Cohen's Dance me to the end of love.

Preserving the subsidiary sovereignty of the Parish

Interesting commentary "Preserving the subsidiary sovereignty of the Parish" by Tony the Prof on his blog:

"Jersey’s Constables in the States represent that element of bicameralism but they are weaker than a perfect bicameral legislature. Were that the case, there would be a second house with the right to bring legislation and to vote down legislation from the other house. Alternatively, they could effectively be reduced to a token bicameral legislature with merely the power to scrutinise and suggest amendments to legislation, capable of being overridden at any time by the other house.

In a small Island, neither solution would provide both a limit to how much say they could have, and that they should have a vote in order to protect the smaller units of government – the Parishes – from a more centralised State."

Common Strategic Policy

The Council of Ministers has proposed a Common Strategic Policy 2018 to 2022. As usual there are some welcome words, but as yet it is unclear how much commitment and resources are to be put behind the policies. The headline commitments to children, the environment, health, standard of living, and economy are, naturally enough to be applauded (but they are so general that no-one could possibly oppose them or propose the opposite).

Still, there are some details within the bland proposals worth holding the CoM to (if they ever get it through the States).

There's a commitment to Saint Helier:

• "We will make St Helier a more desirable place to live, work, do business and visit"

 - whether this will be worth any more than the last government's promises to the Parish remains to be seen. For a start, they could stop trying to build on our parks, for example.

Some positive mentions for Jersey's actions on the international stage, including:

• "Build on our existing engagement programme with EU institutions and nations, including our nearest neighbour, France"

And some environmental points of interest:

• "We need to design and deliver ‘great liveable communities’ where everyone has access to high-quality and affordable accommodation, open and play space, and active travel and transport networks, in order to achieve a vibrant, inclusive and healthy Island."
• "Our roads, cycle, foot and bridle paths enable Islanders and visitors to get around our beautiful Island, to exercise and to get to and from work."
• "Review options for a coordinated and consistent Island-wide recycling programme"

Infographics were put out in English and Portuguese and Polish, but strangely for a document supposedly committing to identity and culture, not in Jèrriais. So I did versions myself: