Falklands : FALKLANDS PUBLIC MEETING REPORT 26.01.10
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 30.01.2010 (Article Archived on 13.02.2010)
A public meeting was held in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the town hall at 1700hrs on Tuesday, 26 January 2010. Present were The Hon Dick Sawle (DS), the Hon Jan Cheek (JC), The Hon Roger Edwards (RW), The Hon Emma Edwards (EE – Chair), The Hon Bill Luxton (BL), The Hon Sharon Halford (SH) and The Hon Glen Ross (GR) The Hon Gavin Short (GS) did not attend presumably due to work commitments.
PUBLIC MEETING REPORT 26.01.10
By J. Brock (FINN)
A public meeting was held in the Court and Assembly Chamber of the town hall at 1700hrs on Tuesday, 26 January 2010. Present were The Hon Dick Sawle (DS), the Hon Jan Cheek (JC), The Hon Roger Edwards (RW), The Hon Emma Edwards (EE – Chair), The Hon Bill Luxton (BL), The Hon Sharon Halford (SH) and The Hon Glen Ross (GR) The Hon Gavin Short (GS) did not attend presumably due to work commitments.
Housing
Housing was widely discussed with a member of the public asking about low cost housing for young families and couples etc. There was general agreement that something had to be done to lower costs for first time buyers.
Ruth Taylor mentioned Falkland Islanders who owned property here but only used it for one month a year or thereabouts. She felt something should be done about it. Sharon Halford said that a Falkland Islander should be able to buy property in his or her own country. Non residents can buy homes in Camp. Glenn Ross said that to be a tenant in one’s own country wasn’t right. Jan Cheek mentioned the amount of time born Falkland Islanders must spend back in the Islands before they can vote needed to be resolved.
Brian Summers mentioned inherited property and that non-residents must sell it. Jan Cheek said that under the current rules you can ask for permission to hold a licence to keep the property. Sharon Halford thinks it’s appalling for a Falkland Islander or a person with status to have to apply to keep property here. Dick Sawle said he was in favour of Sharon Halford’s view as he understands that a Stanley property cannot be sold to a non resident but a property in Camp can and he would like to see this turned around. Sharon Halford said it was a policy issue and that it could be changed by the Assembly.
Phil Middleton mentioned unoccupied and unmaintained property and that there was no mechanism to force people to clean up and maintain their properties. Dick Sawle said it would be difficult to force people to maintain their properties because they had individual freedoms.
Emma Edwards said that a Town Council could be responsible for enforcing property upkeep and could take over that aspect of enforcement from Executive Council. Dick Sawle found creating a “little Switzerland” disagreeable. Jan Cheek mentioned that when there used to be a town council it didn’t affect people’s properties. Emma Edwards said the Council could get enough power to enforce a maintenance policy.
Tim Miller mentioned moguls who bought up properties and this increased the price as well as tax owed. Emma Edwards said we need a housing strategy and development area in Stanley and new tax rates on properties. Dick Sawle feels that the sale price depends on the buyer and seller. This tends to drive up prices. The way to get more housing is to create demand. A person asked about shared equity and Jan Cheek said that it had been discussed with the bank to look at the sub-prime market and the bank is uncomfortable with it. Sub-prime equity schemes had been discussed over the years and proper safeguards need to be in place with those schemes.
Public Jetty
Ruth Taylor asked about Public Jetty renovations and Emma Edwards said the renovation was out to tender. Whether one will be accepted will depend on costs and she questions why government money should be spent when the FIC jetty and Dave Eynon’s jetty are close to the public jetty. People submitting tenders thus far have asked for incredible prices for the work. People had pointed out that the piles on the end of the jetty looked nasty but those towards the centre of the jetty were in better condition. Dick Sawle said figures presented to Ex-Co were too high and the Penguin News Advert hadn’t received any responses yet. Glen Ross said he knows of Six responses. One was from a local firm and the others from overseas. Roger Edwards proposed that we renew the straight bit before it tees off. Stephen Luxton wondered if anyone falling off the unsafe bit of the jetty did so at his or her own risk. Councillors thought government would be responsible.
Mike Forrest said that the dockyard Jetty removal helped to give a good impression to tourists. Money could be spent on that but Roger Edwards wondered if money could be spent in other areas of the Falklands that needed it. Both Roger and Emma Edwards suggested that there were other ways to get people ashore and Tim Miller suggested the removal of the “T” end.
Landing Fees
Graham France mentioned that we have lost tourists because of increased landing fee prices. Emma Edwards said this was a huge concern to the tourism industry. People were opting for cheaper, less remote holidays and our charges had to come down.
Entrance Security
As for security, Jan Cheek said that we had security under the advice of the tourism industry in general who said that numbers would drop if there wasn’t any security. Tim Miller pointed out that there were islands in the UK that had no security at all and we had to have it. Emma Edwards thought our security measures were over the top.
Courtesy Flags
Brian Summers brought up the subject of courtesy flags. Dick Sawle mentioned that the defaced Red Ensign was the proper courtesy flag. Others had mentioned that there were Indian Flags and one from Norway displayed as a courtesy flag. Emma Edwards suggested that first time ships be given a courtesy flag and invited to fly it every time it came to port. Phil Middleton mentioned that even British people get it wrong and fly the flag upside down. Jan Cheek mentioned that it didn’t matter where on the ship a courtesy flag was flying – as long as it was flying.
The Port Project
Mike Forrest asked about the port project and Dick Sawle mentioned we were waiting for the Royal Haskoning report. David Waugh said the report was due in March.
Endemic Species
Tim Miller asked about endemic species like the scorpion and the spider that bit. Emma Edwards said that Falklands Conservation and Andrew Pollard were consulted and the scorpion was actually a centipede and the two varieties of spider were a cupboard spider and a false black widow spider. A report on bio security was needed. Emma Edwards mentioned that envasive species usually don’t get noticed until a population is established.
40th Anniversary Coins
Phil Middleton mentioned that there should be a coin to mark the 40th anniversary of SS Great Britain’s removal to the UK. It made lots of tourist money in the UK and we could get a spin-off from it down here. Coins could be ready for the November tourist season. Unfortunately the local private sector cannot strike coins. Every time a coin is sold, FIG gets a royalty. There is a huge coin market in the UK.
Doyle Report
Finally, Dick Sawle asked people to respond to the draft Doyle Report. It was important to receive people’s ideas and discuss it thoroughly. Emma Edwards closed the meeting at 1750hrs.
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