St Peter Port Douzaine has explained why waste and construction contracts cannot be negotiated or delayed, and why flower displays around Town should not be cancelled in order to save ratepayers some money.
The parish has issued a statement about its 2020 Remède, outing why its scheduled projects need to go ahead.
There had been questions in some quarters about whether savings could be found to help ratepayers in the current environment , with Vale Douzaine announcing earlier this month that around £60,000 would be trimmed from its Remede to help ease parishioners' financial concerns.
Senior Constable Dennis Le Moignan and Junior Constable Jenny Tasker have explained the reasoning behind St Peter Port's decision, saying they had tried to find savings that could be made.
Pictured: St Peter Port ratepayers are responsible for covering the costs of facilities including the Town Church.
"We have conducted a detailed scrutiny of the Remède to see if there are any costs we could reduce or projects we could delay," they said. "Unfortunately all projects for the coming year are subject to contracts, so if they could be cancelled there would certainly be penalties to pay and the work would still need to be done, therefore they would end up costing more.
"A fact to remember is that doing so would have a financial effect on the companies employed to do the work and their staff.
More information on the detail contained in the Remède can be found here.
Items such as Waste and Recycling collection "are done by contract leaving no room for negotiation", the constables said.
The costs of floral displays in St. Peter Port have been reduced by removing all the flower tubs which were on States owned property, unless the relevant departments were willing to take them over. This has reduced the costs involved including labour, flowers and watering by approximately £10,000.
Looking forward to the floral change over in St Peter Port starting this Sunday. Hoping to brighten everyone's mood with colour getting ready to support the economy when town re-opens.@govgg @armoricana @gavinstpier @HeidiSoulsby @DrNicolaBrink @GuernseyPress @StPeterPortPari
— Jax Robin (@jacquierobin1) May 13, 2020
Pictured: It is hoped that the town's floral displays will "brighten people's moods" as St Peter Port starts to get busier again.
"The seeds and plants for the baskets on buildings throughout the Town are planted six months in advance so we could not cancel those and although we considered not having any winter planting take place, it would mean the Town without flowers for eight months of the year.
"It is a proven fact that flowers are very good for people’s wellbeing, for both locals and visitors alike. This work is also done under contract a year in advance."
Mr Le Moignan said the savings from that would be negligible.
"As an example of cost saving, if we were able to cancel the summer floral display it would save about £30,000 and divided between all the ratepayers, it would only save an individual ratepayer £3.75 a year, or 7.2p a week."
Health and safety reasons have been given for the other repair and restoration projects.
Pictured: The upkeep of Candie Gardens, and the nearby Cemetery come under St Peter Port's responsibilities too.
"Repairs to the two sections of Candie Cemetery walls due to begin shortly are necessary, as when previously inspected by a qualified engineer they were found to be bulging and leaning. It is a safety issue which has to be dealt with.
"Work to repair, replace and repaint the railings at the west end of Cambridge Park is also taking place. This is necessary for Health and Safety reasons, as some sections have rusted to a point where they have sharp edges and are dangerous.
"Restorative work on the fountain on the east side of the Town Church will begin hopefully in the near future and the money for this job is ring fenced from last year’s Remède, so has no effect on the 2020 rates.
"We hope the above points help you, our parishioners, to understand why we need to progress with the above items and why there is no leeway to do otherwise."
Pictured top: St Peter Port Senior Constable Dennis Le Moignan.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.