The first stop was GROW. We were greeted with an assortment of fresh breakfast and immediately felt sorry for John Gollop, who was stuck in a P&R committee meeting. We heard and saw everything that GROW do (and there’s a lot). Everyone knows about the horticultural side but did you know that they sell the plants there too, or that they have a woodworking area and a shop that sells handmade wares from local crafters? Or an on-site café? Their purpose-built new site in Coutanchez (almost Marette Road) is very well kitted out, also with a conference room upstairs. Their staff all seem to have their hearts in the right place and are very competent at what they do. They receive some state funding but not a lot. Maybe we could work something out where States Works buys some of their plants or we buy their fruit & veg to give to Guernsey Welfare Service. Maybe the former is achievable now but the latter is something we can look into once we are sure we can pay for everything we need.
Second stop was Guernsey Hospitality Association candidate briefing. They were very clear that the States were still too hands-on with the tourism board and Visit Guernsey but most importantly air links urgently need fixing before tourism and the finance sector suffer further. They had some ideas on how to do this, which will align with what the Guernsey Aviation Action Group will tell us tomorrow.
Then there was the BBC Hustings, which I was on the panel of. 1m30 for opening pitch is fine but 45s for answering a question often isn’t long enough. The biggest problem though is only three questions! That might be why there was a larger audience this evening at the hustings Hayley Camp put together at St. Martin’s. Charlie Murray-Edwards is a character. He had a band of supporters who whooped and clapped at the end of every answer he gave and his pitch. The answers from the whole panel were pretty solid, as were the questions. You can listen to them on BBC Sounds. Other panelists were Tammy Menteshvili (who had to put up with feedback every time she spoke), Diane Mitchell, Nick Moakes, Andrew Niles, David Nussbaumer, George Oswald and Kerry Barnfather. For me, the best delivered answers came from Nick Moakes, Andrew Niles, David Nussbaumer and George Oswald.
I lingered for interactions with the public, then quickly raced off to Styx for Forward Guernsey’s second hustings. They all spoke like a well-oiled machine and from the heart. Gavin did the heavy lifting of defending the manifesto while the rest plunged into their relevant backgrounds and passions.
Tomorrow, I will see the Guernsey Aviation Action Group, attend another BBC Hustings and Hayley Camp / Andy Sloan et al’s hustings.
Tom Moore for Deputy 