Another Green Space Pops Up In Town

Shoppers might have spotted this new public space in town.

Public Voice Common Grounds has created another relaxation spot for people to stop and take a breather from their busy lives.

The space - just behind Romerils in the car park on Hue Street - is made from pallets donated by the retailer and painted red and blue.

Sasha Gibb at the Romerils Pop-up Perch.

Sasha Gibb, the founder of Public Voice Common Grounds, says the new perch illustrates what is possible in town.

"We're sitting in what was four car parking spaces which have been converted into seating for about 35 people.

We've got a film here on the 21st September, and we've got Grow bringing us soup made out of their vegetables.

Acorn Enterprises has donated some planters with tomatoes, Ransoms Garden Centre donated more flowers, and Romerils has given more plant pots to decorate the perch.

The space aims to show people what can be done with the right amount of time, effort and money to create community areas.

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Similarly, there is a temporary garden at Weighbridge in an area that was supposed to be a bus car park, which is now a green garden, allowing people to enjoy the sun in a new area of town.

Sasha says to make more areas like this permanent, people need to take part in the survey to get their say.

"We have people slowing down spending time, we have petanque players, we have people having picnics, drawing, doing yoga, all of those sorts of things.

One of the things I'm particularly proud of with this site is the impact it has had on the community."

The founder giggles to herself fondly as she tells Channel 103 that there is now a self-appointed honorary caretaker, Tony, who lives close to the temporary garden.

He turns up to bring toys for the children, waters the plants and grass and cleans the blackboards.

"If you give people nice things, they do nice things back," Sasha says.

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Blackboards and signs have been added to the space to let people have their say about what they want to see and if they enjoy it.

The people working on Public Voice Common Grounds come down to the perch daily to take photos of the blackboards to add the messages to their research.

"We want to hear from as many of the Jersey public as to what their needs, wants, aspirations are so that we can go about solving those through better public realm."

So far, the survey has had 2,000 responses, but the group aims to collect 10,000 by the end of the year to get as many opinions as possible.

The project allows islanders to have their say on matters that affect them.

People can complete the online survey in three different languages: English, Portuguese and Polish.

Public Voice Common Grounds has also been making light of the project with amusing TikToks which follow trends currently popular with Generation Z.

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