The Samurai Planning Officer

I see that Freddie Cohen has promised to "fall on his sword", metaphorically and resign if he does not get his own way over the Waterfront development plans. As the Waterfront would probably move Jersey towards a kind of mini-Tokyo, this kind of Samurai strategy probably makes sense.

Is it my imagination, but doesn't this sound like a sort of blackmail, and the kind of "it's not fair" that one gets from a petulant child used to getting his own way?

He says of course that he is following his manifesto in bringing the Waterfront development forwards. As (1) the plan did not exist at the time and (2) more to the point, it was only after election that he became head of Planning - this seems strange. In point of fact, nothing like sunken roads and winter gardens (with artificial light to make those artistically placed trees in the artistic impression in tonight's JEP - another environmentally friendly matter?) was ever mentioned in that manifesto. This is another red herring. I suggest he reads his manifesto again.

It reads:

"The town centre must be protected and we must be watchful of proposals for the Waterfront that threaten to shift too much of the vibrancy from the existing centre."