1. Give people an incentive to return

"I’m well into my final year of secondary education which hopefully means, grade permitting, I’ll be heading off to university pretty soon. I often get asked whether or not I see Guernsey in my future. Would I come back? Yes (eventually). Could I come back? No, not really. Unless I want to live in my parents’ metaphorical basement I’ll likely have to face up to the challenge of finding somewhere to live which on a graduate salary may be verging on the impossible.

"The cost of living is generally higher in Guernsey than anywhere else and anything that can be done to improve the provision of housing for first time buyers to make it that little bit easier to get on the property ladder would be helpful. There’s a lot of talent on the island - and we should be taking steps to keep it here."

2. A coffee price cap 

"I tend to enjoy my cappuccino more when it isn’t burning a hole through my mouth - or my pocket....."

3. Transport links

"Complaining about Condor and Aurigny seems to have become a national pastime and I’m by no means the first to call for better transport links with the mainland. I’m conscious that business leaders and other stakeholders have already made strong cases in this area citing its importance with respect to our island’s economy. But the issue is as pertinent to young people who often return to the island during university holidays and head off island to represent us (very successfully) at sport and music events. Interestingly, it was a uni student who not too long ago took Facebook by storm with a rather popular petition to lower Aurigny air fares.

"On the other hand I am somewhat sympathetic to Aurigny - it’s a small airline which often takes financial hits during periods of fog and more recently, snow. As I understand, it doesn’t have the same provisions to deal with such events in the same way as larger airlines hence the higher ticket prices. So I appreciate it’s tough. I’m thankful this is 'What I’d change about Guernsey' as opposed to 'How I’d change Guernsey'."

4. Take the initiative

"I followed a Q&A session on Reddit not too long ago which featured Bill Gates - a man who probably doesn’t need any introduction. In response to a question about the poor governance of the United States, Bill noted that ‘government can do better but local groups can do a lot that government can’t’ - it reminded me a lot of JFK’s 'Ask not what your country can do for you...' speech. Bill wasn’t saying that the government should do less, he was arguing in the same vein as Kennedy that the community can do more - we can do more, we should do more, and some communities in Guernsey already are doing more.

"The team behind the ‘La Vallette Challenge’ did a pretty amazing job of restoring the bathing pools, Floral Guernsey work very hard to make St. Peter Port look great and events like Future Generations are way ahead of the States in promoting a ‘Green Guernsey’, the list of projects like these is extensive but most importantly they’re driven on the initiative of the community. Sure, we could have waited for the States of Guernsey to step in and fix the problem at an unspecified date in the ‘near’ future but the States isn’t (and shouldn’t) be the only 'agent of change’ on our island. I’m not suggesting someone sets up their own renegade hospital or anything too crazy, and no, community initiatives might not balance a budget or fix the Liberation, but there are a lot of problems that could be solved if islanders took the initiative before taking to Twitter."

Pictured: Some of the community work which went on to fix up La Vallette bathing pools

5. Attitude toward the States

"The final thing I would like to change in Guernsey is our attitude, and I left this until last because I think it’s the most important in light of my previous comments.

"The international political climate has turned pretty toxic in recent years. It’s characterised by populist rhetoric and frankly vicious exchanges which I sometimes fear has made its way onto our shores. No doubt it is the nature of democracy to challenge and criticise - but it probably isn’t very helpful when unconditionally vilifying the States supersedes our ability to engage with them. I think there should be greater dialogue between islanders and Deputies. It’s quite easy to criticise over Facebook, I’m guilty of it myself, but I think taking the time to engage politicians in person with a constructive mindset is the way to have a real impact.

"Having spent a lot of my holidays in Indonesia, which itself has a hilariously extensive list of political problems, I can honestly confirm that the States of Guernsey is not the 'world’s worst government' as I once saw it put. I say this tentatively but I think we should afford the States a little more faith than we do currently. This doesn’t mean we should give them a license to run rampant nor am I suggesting that mistakes haven't been made in the past, but as I said I think we should consider engagement before expletives.

"At the end of the day I want to have faith in my government. Their success is our success. Why not vouch for them a little?"

If you'd like to have your say on the "Five things I'd change about Guernsey" feature please contact us via editor@bailiwickexpress.com .