Interesting you are saying “the rest of us know that the town has been dying for years due to the fact its quicker, cheaper and invariably better service and prods buying off the internet” – so are you saying the “the rest of us” meaning the majority of people? buy off the internet not from town?

“Parking in town is mission impossible due to the fact it is free, perhaps” – why are the car parks full then? does this mean the people are just parking there for fun and not actually buying anything in town?

When you found the parking was mission impossible, were you going to buy something from town or just parking for fun?

If they do bring in paid parking, I will be going to town far less often, so there will be one extra space for you to park, but not shop of course as you will have already brought it off the internet.

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Many thanks for that information. Its about time too! I would still be interested in finding out who is responsible for the upkeep – just for future reference!

@IWV
heh heh only just realsed my typo! car and cat fixed!

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The rest of us know that the town has been dying for years due to the fact it’s quicker, cheaper and invariably better service and prods buying off the Internet, and that getting parking in town is mission impossible…..due to the fact it’s free, perhaps…?

Quite possibly.

Jersey, along with many other places, has had paid parking for years, and they haven’t ‘died’ because of it, so that myth is absolute nonsense.

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Ok, I stand corrected on that one but the result was the same i.e bigger vehicles such as vans, trucks etc used to pay a lot more road tax – might be slightly different now though as I would guess a lot bigger proportion of cars are diesel compared to maybe 10 years ago.

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Your 3.54pm post is very heavy on the punishment,through taxation, aspect of getting the vast majority of the island population ( the motor vehicle owning population)to follow your lead,and leave the car at home in favour of walking,cycling and bussing, not only to work but also at other times of the day and evening

As an upstanding citizen you surely must admit that during ‘the rest of the day’there is absolutely no safety reason, through traffic density,to not walk or cycle if you so choose

As for taxing free parking at work in Town would you include Admiral Park office staff,or staff parking at the Guernsey Press,or at La Houguette School?

Where would you draw the line?

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There is certainly an argument for charging owners of over-sized and/or polluting vehicles just once at the point of importation. I wouldn’t argue against that. I just think that if a tax was paid yearly, it would be an uncomfortable yearly reminder of the negative consequences of such vehicles on the rest of us.

Your comments re private parking in town offices. I really don’t see why, in the event of paid parking, there shouldn’t also be a tax-in-kind on work-place parking. In other words, it should be a taxable benefit. Ditto Frossard Hse etc.

Lastly- for the umpteenth time. I am not anti car. I have a car and I use it- and damned useful it is too when needed. I am however, anti a transport system that encourages us to use the car as the default mode of transport for all journeys without considering the alternative options. I am anti a transport system that is totally dominated by private vehicles so that there is no choice but to own a car in order to be able to participate in society. And I am anti a traffic system that actively discourages people from cycling or walking because of the levels of traffic on the roads.
I am pro a transport system that encourages a varied transport mix so that we all use the appropriate transport option for each particular journey. I am pro a transport system that takes account of our vulnerable and precious environment and that recognises that our personal ‘wants’ should not necessarily take precedence over what would be best for the community as a whole.

I do NOT think that it is forward thinking Ray, as you would like to believe, to think that we should all continue to demand to be able to drive ourselves wherever and whenever we want without any consideration for the consequences. It is in my mind, lazy old-fashioned thinking.

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