President Daniel Gibbs gave the last of his four New Year addresses in Sandy Ground on Saturday. (photo Robert Luckock).
MARIGOT–President Daniel Gibbs delivered his final New Year’s address on Saturday in Sandy Ground, outlining projects and objectives for the district. The gathering included elected officials, officials from the Préfecture, district representatives, former Mayor Albert Fleming, but very few inhabitants.
It was inevitable that the President would mention the civil unrest that erupted in Sandy Ground in December, resulting in a temporary blockade of the main road. If that protest was short lived, the complaints and concerns of the inhabitants were far reaching and the Collectivité still has to find solutions.
“I understand the concerns expressed over the past 18 months. If it is sometimes complicated to answer them, it is because the stakes are high in Sandy Ground,” said Gibbs. “We are convinced that the future of the neighbourhood depends on a more global and concerted approach,” he said. “The events of last December proved that questions, concerns and misunderstandings are growing. I, therefore, propose that we together initiate a new working method to rethink your neighbourhood.
“I want this method to be constructive and shared in order to develop with you over the next six months the new development plan for your neighbourhood and the roadmap for the work to be done. I want to bring together the neighbourhood council, the representatives of the Sandy Ground associations in a working group by March.
“The main themes to be addressed are housing or re-housing, access to employment for young people who have broken away from the school system and the neighbourhood’s living environment. For the smooth running of this reflection work, which I hope will be regular; this consultation will be supervised by a project manager that the Collectivité will make available to you.
“I would like to stress a major point that this concerted method does not aim to get lost in unrealistic and utopian projects, but on the contrary, to work on the basis of concrete and realistic projects that are close to the needs of the inhabitants and in line with the regulatory constraints of spatial planning.”
He said proximity and social cohesion are the two objectives for the district. The recent establishment of urban and regional planning offices in the districts to answer questions on reconstruction and explain the rules in force meets this objective. Sandy Ground was the first neighbourhood to benefit from these services. These consultation offices will be renewed regularly as needed to educate, explain and repeat so that the right information is disseminated and integrated by everyone.
Proximity has been strengthened with the Maison des Services au Publique (MSAP) in Sandy Ground which has been in operation since early 2018. “I think that bringing public service to the heart of the neighbourhoods really does our fellow citizens a service. This makes our young people work in civic service for social cohesion. With MSAP, our goal has been achieved.”
Gibbs disclosed 2019 will see the completion of an urban development project that will also be a meeting place for the inhabitants. This is a new public space located in the parking lot of the Albéric Richards Stadium. This project will have a double function: on the one hand beautifying the entrance to Sandy Ground and, on the other, of creating a small landscaped square from which young people, the not-so-young and families can benefit.
Other priorities for Sandy Ground include repair of the Sandy Ground Bridge, burying of electricity and digital networks which will continue at the end of the year, following EDF’s action plan. EDF is responsible for managing the civil engineering works on behalf of the Collectivité and rehabilitation of the football field and athletics track at the Albéric Richards Stadium.
As for the future of the Cultural Centre in Sandy Ground, he said the plan is to build a real neighbourhood centre making it possible to pool local public services such as MSAP, but also services for families through a socio-cultural space, and for young people. This project will not be possible in 2019 because of the need to refine the programming, but should be completed in 2020.
Other simple but necessary actions will be beneficial to all such as planting trees and planting planters in shopping streets and neighbourhoods, a progressive replacement of street furniture in each neighbourhood, and restoration of public space the services in partnership with insertion associations.
“Here too we want job opportunities to be opened up for our young people in partnership with insertion associations. We are committed to this programme and are currently working on drafting the call for tenders to quickly launch this partnership,” he added.
The elected representative for the Sandy Ground and Lowlands district, Cédric Andre, said he was generally satisfied with what Gibbs had to say on Saturday, despite Gibbs not mentioning any specific solutions for Sandy Ground from the 37-point list of complaints/concerns submitted to the Collectivité after the protest.
“Actually, he has given us a three-page answer to some issues in Sandy Ground,” Andre confirmed. “We will elaborate on that in due course with the media.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84792-gibbs-sandy-ground-a-high-stakes-district-that-deserves-a-global-approach
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