St Brelade concerns of empty shops and cost of living

Empty shops in Les Quennevais Parade and Precinct and cost of living pressures are the key concerns for voters in St Brelade.

The BBC is visiting every voting district as part of a roadshow before the election in June. On Tuesday, the roadshow was in St Brelade.

Joe Pinzari, who owns two businesses in Les Quennevais Parade, said he has had to close one of them because of high rents and costs.

Others told the BBC that they were frustrated people were having to turn to food banks in a "rich island like Jersey".

Les Quennevais is meant to be the island's second urban centre, but there has long been a feeling that the parade and precinct has been neglected with many shops left empty.

Pinzari said the parade and precinct were not what they used to be.

He said: "I remember as a kid, I was brought up in St Brelade and this area was busy. It was buzzing, it was a vibe, people came up here for a reason. But now this area is lacking a reason for people to come up.

"Why are shops empty? The rents are too high, the buildings are falling apart, there is no investment being made into the area."

Previously businesses told the BBC that this was because of the commercial landlord based in the UK charging high rents and not carrying out repairs.

Pinzari has had to close one of his businesses, the Bean Café, for more than a year.

He said: "The trouble with the Bean Café is that we didn't get enough support locally and there is no support from the government.

"The rent as a percentage of the takings reached up to 27%. You just can't operate like that as a business. I had to shut it.

"People now are struggling with the cost of living."

Pinzari said a local enterprise centre could help businesses when they were struggling.

He said: "People can come in and talk to them when they are struggling and find a way to help them.

"If we were to have a Jersey enterprise centre, I would say: 'Send Joe in from the Bean Café. What are his struggles? How can we help him through this difficult period? Let's support him, let's keep this café open and keep people employed and, once he's back on his feet, we pull [considerately withdraw] that support from him.'"

The BBC heard from several people that the cost of living was proving a big challenge.

Louis Bowen said: "This is a rich island and you have people going to the food bank. That should not be happening in a place like Jersey."

Those sentiments were echoed by Ruth Perchard, who works in a church.

She said: "I meet a lot of people who are really struggling, and even people who are working are having to go to food banks.

"For some people, it's a case of either you eat or put the heating on.

"I think the ones who are very rich should pay more tax."

Tony Bellows, editor of parish magazine La Baguette, said he felt social housing could be improved.

He said: "There is a big gap between people who are well on the housing ladder and the people who have rented housing.

"The States, at least they have some control on the rents so they [tenants] aren't getting totally squeezed by landlords."

The BBC also spoke to Greg Morel who lives in St Brelade and is head of Jersey National Park.

Some 16% of Jersey's land mass is part of the national park and any development on it is strictly regulated.

Morel said he felt it was important the next set of politicians continued to protect the national park.

He said: "I would argue that you need environmental wellbeing underpinning social and economic wellbeing. People want to live and work here because it's such a nice place to live.

"So I think it's really important that the right policies are put in place to ensure that, while we all need infrastructure, it's done in a way that protects those things that make Jersey special - a well managed and well conserved natural environment.

The election will be held on 7 June and the list of candidates standing for deputy in St Brelade can be found found here.

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