Minister & Mayor: St George’s Transport
Terry Lister, Minister of Transport and Ellen-Kate Horton, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport recently met with St. George’s Mayor Kenneth Bascome to discuss ongoing initiatives and challenges in the town, especially as it relates to transport.
A primary topic of conversation was the need for a dedicated cruise ship to be berthed in the town which would assist in the revival of the ‘old town’.
To this end a study is being done on the Town Cut Channel and the Minister and Mayor are awaiting the results. However, both agreed that the public must be fully informed and allowed to voice their opinions, concerns and ideas before any action is taken.
Mayor Bascome was hopeful that the study would show that dredging of the Town Cut would be sufficient to allow some cruise ships to use the port.
On the issue of taxis, Mayor Bascome said that often they were not available to take persons out of St. George’s as they do not wait in the Town Square any longer as the restaurants are closed.
The White Horse has closed for the season, both the ‘George and the Dragon’ and ‘The Carriage House’ have closed down and there are others that are likely to follow.
Currently tour buses only remain in the town for 45 minutes and the Minister and Mayor agreed that a review on the time spent in St. George’s was needed.
Buses have been banned from St. George’s Town Square for several years and the Mayor and Minister agreed to review this policy. A spokesperson said: “The reason behind the policy was to ensure that visitors toured the Heritage Centre and then walked through the town to the Square to be picked up. However, this is difficult for some of the elderly visitors so changes are necessary so that all visitors can enjoy their time in St. George’s to the fullest extent possible.”
Minister Lister said: “We had a very frank and productive meeting with Mayor Bascome at his office in St. George’s. Many topics were discussed, including transportation issues that will be reviewed with a view to benefitting the visitors and business people of the old town. I look forward to doing our part to do everything we can to revitalise this important piece of our overall tourism product.”
