Countryside audience hears 14 candidates make their case

16 October 2005

Countryside Hustings: Monday 10 October

The Members Room at the RJA&HS headquarters was packed with nearly 200 people for the special Countryside Hustings, organised jointly by the RJA&HS, Jersey Farmers Union, Jersey Landowners Association, Société Jersiaise and the National Trust for Jersey. In the audience were landowners and farmers (the former now well outnumbering the latter) as well as members of the public.

Of the 15 candidates only Roy Travert was absent, apparently because his campaign manager had ‘double-booked’ him for the night.

Of the introductory speeches only Senator Stuart Syvret, Deputy Guy de Faye, Freddie Cohen, Deputy Jerry Dorey, Senator Terry Le Sueur and Jim Perchard really rose to the occasion and had prepared themselves for an audience who specifically wanted to learn about the candidates’ views and policies towards the natural environment.

With the end of the election race in sight, rivalry between candidates was rife with Stuart Syvret frequently challenging (the retired) Jim Perchard on the ‘conflict’ of his farming interests, and Guy de Faye not missing the opportunity to continue his challenges on JDA ‘demolition’ policies in a forthright and witty manner.

With the recent adoption of the new Rural Economy Strategy by the States in July, the candidates were given a clear blueprint of government intentions towards the countryside. It was clear that many of the candidates, all seeking an all-Island mandate, had failed to research and understand this document adequately.

The meeting was a success, not just in the numbers present but because it fundamentally tested the candidates’ ability to research and understand a specific facet of the Island’s economy, a skill they will undoubtedly need as the States Assembly almost exclusively debates propositions of a specific nature.

A broad range of questions covered the potential conflict of being a member of one of the bodies that organised the meeting, the potential of diversification of land into golf courses, the fairness of applying rates to land, the implications of the impending Water Law, maintaining the ban on liquid milk imports, the development of potato marketing and its effect on small growers, and what was the candidates’ vision for the countryside for 2006 and beyond?

Gino Risoli stuck to his familiar, if somewhat purist, beliefs, explaining how an effective democracy should work. He explained that with Italian agrarian ancestry he was a supporter of local food production and consumption, preferably grown organically. His answer to the issue of future water resource management in the Island was ‘in the science’.

Kevin Lewis continues to master the art of succinctness, often to deliver a simple, clear message, which sometimes seems to be more akin to his personal beliefs than his Centre Party allegiance. He urged farmers who were experiencing tough times in a competitive climate to ‘stand up for themselves’, as he had done in setting up the New Forum cinema. He stated that there was ‘definitely room for co-existence’ among farmers, especially in supplying the niche marketplace.

Ben Shenton admitted his lack of experience in countryside matters. However, in his familiar pragmatic style, he recognised the strategic importance of a vibrant rural economy and supported diversification in the countryside to achieve it. He recognised the considerable benefits that would derive from relocating Jersey Dairy, but was concerned about developments in Guernsey’s dairy industry. He supported local and efficient milk production.

Senator Paul Le Claire acknowledged the challenges within the farming industry, telling the audience that he had ‘lots of good ideas’ on how to solve them but could not reveal them because the audience might laugh. He did suggest making Jersey Royal potatoes into crisps and promoting the Island as a tourist destination on the packet. Struggling to match the skills in brevity of his fellow Centre Party candidate Kevin Lewis, he outlined at length his general support for the farming community.

Senator Stuart Syvret emphasised, in his increasingly polished manner, the strategic importance of the countryside in economic, cultural and recreational terms. He suspected that government in future would have to give increased support to the rural economy if the countryside was to be managed to the continued expectations of both residents and tourists. He favoured policies that promoted diversification, but only if they were environmentally sustainable, thus casting doubt on the appropriateness of golf courses. Like other candidates he supported the promotion and development of niche market products and felt this could stem the reduction in farm numbers, especially smaller ones, which he regarded as an essential part of the fabric of the countryside. Proving unafraid to deliver what might be an unpopular message to his audience, he stated firmly that the Island’s water reserves were a shared and vital resource for the whole community.

Guy de Faye gave unambiguous support for the rural economy and to farmers in particular, proving he had a good grasp of the challenges facing the countryside while recognising the current fiscal constraints facing government. He supported the recently adopted Rural Economy Strategy, which he felt balanced appropriate government support for the farming industry with the realities of an increasingly competitive marketplace. He viewed wholesale diversification as the panacea for the rural economy and was concerned at the potential irrevocable damage that could be done if too much farmland was taken out of food production. He was not afraid, as a member of E&PS, to challenge the imminent Water Law and suggested that rather than license groundwater users, a system of ‘registration’ might be more appropriate and less costly to the end user. He capably dealt with taunts from his neighbour, Deputy Geoff Southern, and expressed strong support for the dairy industry with a strong message tempered with his able wit, suggesting that if milk was imported we should take a lesson from our Normandy cousins, rather than our English neighbours, and dump it in the harbour on the proviso that this act would not be deemed environmentally unfriendly. Asked what he saw as the future vision of farming in the Island, he replied ‘profitable’ and sat down.

Deputy Geoff Southern continued his consistent style as the leader of the JDA, reminding his audience of everything that was wrong with the Island in his eyes and that recently approved States policies, despite having undergone the rigours of the democratic process, were doomed to failure. He castigated the Rural Economy Strategy without outlining any coherent alternative policies, although he did state that the JDA would be consulting with a UK organisation known as TWIGG for new ideas for the countryside, which hardly convinced his audience that he could recognise ‘the wood from the trees’ in matters agricultural. His now regular references to policies in the ‘utopian isle’ of Guernsey drew a quick braying riposte from his neighbour, much to the amusement of the audience.

Roger Bisson admitted that he had little knowledge of the countryside, having specialised in a career in computer software development. He did, however, claim to have studied the Rural Economy Strategy. He repeatedly told his audience in answer to questions that he had come to the hustings meeting to ‘listen to their views’.

Terry Le Main reminded us of his farming roots and his somewhat nostalgic view of farming past in a popular and humourous speech. He regarded the impending Water Law as an example of increased and unnecessary bureaucracy. He gave support to the Rural Economy Strategy and said it was ‘unthinkable’ not to have Jersey cows in our countryside. He supported the promotion of niche market products but was realistic enough to recognise that there would continue to be structural change within the farming industry.

Freddie Cohen had clearly researched his subject thoroughly. He gave strong support for the Rural Economy Strategy and recognised the strategic importance of the countryside environment to the Island. Having been an active member in the wider community, especially at Jersey Heritage Trust, he recognised the many benefits an active and well-managed countryside brought to the community at large, many of which could not be measured in pure financial terms. He advocated a continuing ‘holistic’ approach to dealing with future challenges within the countryside and was a strong supporter of local quality food production; in doing so, he took the opportunity to clarify his election pledge of ‘bringing down food prices’ not as an inference to encouraging a UK multiple retailer to the Island, but rather to work with existing retailers to help bring value to the food sector market.

Jerry Dorey brief stint as president of Agriculture and Fisheries over ten years ago remained in the memories of much of the audience, but while acknowledging this fact, no one could fail to recognise the enormous sea-change that had occurred in the countryside since then. Characteristically, he gave a well-researched and skilful synopsis of the future role of the countryside and farmers’ interaction with it; in doing so, he drew from his extensive understanding of the Rural Economy Strategy, emphasising the important opportunity that ‘enabling’ or ‘linked’ development gave to farmers to help with future much-needed investment. He was unafraid to tell his audience that he regarded water as a ‘shared resource’ for the whole Island, which needed to be strategically managed and, like all other candidates, gave unequivocal support to local liquid milk production. In answer to the question relating to the changing structure of the potato industry, he welcomed the establishment of a single marketing group but wished to see the growing of potatoes from ‘a broad base.

Denise Carroll needed to toe the Party line, so she was fortunate for much of the meeting to be able to follow her leader in making her comments. She repeated her claim for the need for free milk delivery to senior citizens without outlining the resultant cost implications, although she did like to see ‘brown cows in green fields’. She cautioned against the removal of rates on farmland, prudently recognising the knock-on effect to residential rate payers.

Terry Le Sueur strongly supported the strategic role that the countryside makes to the Island. He endorsed the concept of diversification in the countryside but only if farmland could be returned to agricultural use in the case of food shortage, as befitting perhaps the only candidate who has had practical experience of such hardship. Discarding any false notion of being an ‘iron chancellor’, Terry Le Sueur proved his adroitness at tackling the finer points of the local economy with the need for flexibility by stating that rates on land were ‘a matter of definition’ whereby exemption for agricultural use could be considered and that, while supporting the concept of competition, ‘milk was the exemption that proved the rule’. While most candidates were happy to distance themselves from membership of (and thereby perceived conflict with) the organisations that had arranged the meeting, Terry Le Sueur openly declared his membership of the Société Jersiaise, stating that it often gave him valuable access to factual historical information.

Jim Perchard appeared to understand that his audience would perhaps not warm to a successful farmer who had retired before he was 50, but he gave a strong and robust performance outlining the reality of farming today. Without ducking the inevitability of continued structural change in the farming industry, he explained that this was a consequence of market forces and as such was ‘nobody’s fault’. He supported less interference from government and urged the sectors of the industry to ‘get their act together’ in dealing with future challenges. He was justifiably proud of the creation of a new cricket pitch at his farm, which brought widespread benefits to the community, and he declared strong and passionate support for the Jersey cow in her Island home.

Read all our hustings reports here.