TALKING to an audience of island business leaders, it was inevitable that the Treasury minister would be asked about population, growth and whether any change was likely to the island’s current ‘steady as she goes’ policy.
And if members of the Confederation of Guernsey Industry were hoping for an indication of a relaxation in that policy, they were disappointed.
In the minister’s mind, most people here do not wish to see the number of island residents increase and, whatever the consequences of that view, it has been reached by islanders on a quality of life basis.
Instead, he believed that the question was really one of what kind of island do we all want to live in? It is a fair point. Until there is agreement of what sort of a future islanders are seeking, policy issues like population, development and land reclamation cannot properly be addressed.
While there is a government business plan, it is not something islanders would recognise as a visionary statement on which to base a society. Indeed, if the States was a political party seeking reelection, how many voters could say what that party stood for or what its core values were?
One of the ambitions of the new chief minister is to engage with islanders, and a sort of Vision Guernsey process, in which various possibilities or scenarios are outlined for discussion would be a valuable part of that process.
In some respects, it is inevitable.
The zero-10 process means that the island will have to evaluate its taxation position within five years and the demographic trends mean that without population growth or a move in some way to a younger age profile here, the tax burden on those in work will rise considerably to maintain those in retirement.
Equally, while departmental coordination is better, members can still take decisions – such as restricting population growth – seemingly unaware of the consequences of doing so.
Setting out where Guernsey wishes to be in five, 10 and 25 years’ time might help to avoid some future surprises.
And it would certainly engage islanders in the policies of government.
Let’s sort out island’s core values
TALKING to an audience of island business leaders, it was inevitable that the Treasury minister would be asked about population, growth and whether any change was likely to the island’s current ‘steady as she goes’ policy.
And if members of the Confederation of Guernsey Industry were hoping for an indication of a relaxation in that policy, they were disappointed.
In the minister’s mind, most people here do not wish to see the number of island residents increase and, whatever the consequences of that view, it has been reached by islanders on a quality of life basis.
Instead, he believed that the question was really one of what kind of island do we all want to live in? It is a fair point. Until there is agreement of what sort of a future islanders are seeking, policy issues like population, development and land reclamation cannot properly be addressed.
While there is a government business plan, it is not something islanders would recognise as a visionary statement on which to base a society. Indeed, if the States was a political party seeking reelection, how many voters could say what that party stood for or what its core values were?
One of the ambitions of the new chief minister is to engage with islanders, and a sort of Vision Guernsey process, in which various possibilities or scenarios are outlined for discussion would be a valuable part of that process.
In some respects, it is inevitable.
The zero-10 process means that the island will have to evaluate its taxation position within five years and the demographic trends mean that without population growth or a move in some way to a younger age profile here, the tax burden on those in work will rise considerably to maintain those in retirement.
Equally, while departmental coordination is better, members can still take decisions – such as restricting population growth – seemingly unaware of the consequences of doing so.
Setting out where Guernsey wishes to be in five, 10 and 25 years’ time might help to avoid some future surprises.
And it would certainly engage islanders in the policies of government.
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