AS AN example of grassroots politics in action, the defeat of plans to build a new St Peter Port constables’ office is hard to match.

That almost 300 electors and ratepayers should ignore the attractions of watching Andy Murray play his heart out at Wimbledon and choose instead to spend an evening sweltering in Beau Sejour theatre is heart-warming for those who love democracy.

For, regardless of whether the parish really needs to spend £2.5m. building a new HQ at Les Cotils, it is now clear what the people of the parish think – and that is what truly counts.

There is nothing more dispiriting than poorly-attended public meetings and elections. A decision made by a fraction of a per cent of the electorate has far less validity than one endorsed by a representative number.

And apathy leaves the system open to abuse. In some recent parish elections so few votes have been cast that a candidate with a large family might have a distinct advantage.

National newspapers report that the number of public meetings is currently at an all-time high – it is probably no coincidence that the country is in the grip of a recession.

People affected by real issues are more readily politicised. In the good times it is far easier to be apathetic.

So, when parish rates are going to rise, parishioners now want to know why. And the answer has to be a good one, because when times are hard waste is to be abhorred.

It is possible therefore to see a silver lining in the economic downturn as the values that islanders have traditionally cherished return to the fore.

Prudence, community involvement and a dislike of waste and excess are making a fightback against a society obsessed by status and self.

It is those values that the States reflected in their decision to avoid external borrowing. It should be further in evidence each time a project from the £300m. wish list returns to the States for approval.

There can be no easy rides or blank cheques. The days of waste belong in the past.