21/03/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

That's all from us. Don't forget a first look at the papers over on

Good evening. Jersey's state tourism department could be scrapped and

replaced with a non`government body called Visit Jersey, in a bid to

attract more people to the island. That's the proposal put forward by

the Tourism Shadow Board. It follows a dramatic decline in visitor

numbers at a time when global tourism is growing. The number of

holiday makers has fallen by 43% in the last 15 years. In 1997, there

were almost 600,000 staying leisure visitors but that has now dropped to

just over 300,000. But with more aggressive marketing, it's claimed

within 15 years that could increase to a million. Jen Smith reports.

Jersey in its tourism hey`day when the beaches were full of

holiday`makers and the shops busy with people keen to part with their

cash. But these are scenes the modern industry can currently only

dream of. Visitor numbers have dwindled, hotels and guest houses

have closed and, this, year a further blow. Preston Travel, which

brought thousands of tourists to Jersey, went out of business. Now

the industry needs help. We can't really afford any further decline.

We need to halt the decline, turn it round and invigorate some growth.

?6.5 million of tax payers money currently spent each year on

Jersey's Tourism department could be given instead to Visit Jersey as a

grant. Without direct government control it's hoped Visit Jersey will

market the island more aggressively, work more closely with airlines and

take bigger commercial risks. The man making the recommendations

briefed the hospitality industry today. Absolutely delighted. It is

what I joined this association for. It is time for a new deal for

tourism. The finance industry has been the big heavyweight and focus

for us. It is nice to see a return back to hospitality. . But there are

18 full`time staff at Jersey Tourism. The new body will be much

smaller. Jersey Tourism didn't want to comment today.

A free bus service, a width tax on vehicles and more cycle lanes. These

are just some of the proposals from Guernsey's Environment Department to

drive cars off the road and make alternative transport more

attractive. But the scale of the job is daunting. There are 86,000

registered vehicles for 63,000 residents. The long`awaited

transport strategy has been released today. And as Mike Wilkins reports,

not everyone in the Environment Department agrees with the

proposals. Traffic, there's too many on our

roads. A view held by many people in the island including the Environment

Department. And it now wants to reduce the dominance of the private

motor vehicle. More cycle lanes, bus routes and increased frequency. But

there are also more ambitious proposals. This report contains a

lot of information, but some of the key suggestions are to make all bus

journeys free apart from the night service. It also proposes

introducing a one`off width tax and a carbon emissions tax when new or

second hand vehicles are registered in the island. And it wouldn't be a

transport strategy without some mention of paid parking, but

interestingly there are no plans to introduce it. If you don't have to

use your car look at other ways you can travel ` walk, cycle, the bus or

car share. Just give it a bit of thought.

However, there are divisions within the Environment department as two of

the five board members are submitting their own proposals and

one is to have paid parking. There will be provision of funding for a

much needed bus depot which is not mentioned in the report. We are not

proposing any increase in fuel duty but we will propose paid parking for

long stay in St Peter Port. We've heard from the politicians and

their vision but what do you think of their vision to encourage us out

of our cars? It is a bit like saying to people go back using a mashed ``

manual washing machine. We have got used to it and we like it and we

don't want to go back to something not as good. Why don't they do

smaller buses for people. The buses are too big and wide. The people

shouting about it ought to count and see how many they have got in their

own backyard. There are many other proposals to

get the island out of its traffic jam, and next month it'll be up to

the States to decide. A by`election is to be held in

Alderney to elect a new States Member. It follows the death of Paul

Arditti earlier this year. Voting will take place on the April 12th.

Sport, and in rugby a disappointing evening for Jersey. They lost 25`23

away at Ealing tonight despite leading early on in the game. A win

for the islanders would have almost secured their place in the division

and put their opponents on the brink of relegation.

Guernsey FC take on league leaders Peacehaven and Telscombe tomorrow.

It's the second away game for the Green Lions who beat Whitstable 3`1

on Thursday. Full coverage on BBC Radio Guernsey from 12.45 tomorrow.

Good evening. An unsettled weekend ahead. Some heavy showers but drier

weather on Sunday in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in single

figures. The showers will smooth through overnight and be replaced by

some clear skies. Quite a cold start to the morning. Winds from the west

or south west and plenty of showers tomorrow. Some sunshine every now

and then. Showers will die down towards the end of the day. On

Sunday, showers in the morning but they will become lighter and

isolated by the afternoon. Quite breezy so feeling quite cold in the

winter chill. After a bright start on Monday, it will cloud up and then

we will see showers on Tuesday. Quite unsettled over the next four

days. If all forecast in a second for the UK. Good night from us.

you with our summary, but now, the National forecast.

Good evening. If you can cast your mind back to this time last week, we

were looking forward to sunshine and warmth, we got temperatures of 20

Celsius. This weekend, it will be cold and windy, with showers. We saw

quite a few earlier on today, then this organised band of cloud,

containing gusty wind, rain, sleet and snow. Some gusty wind and

blustery Wayne moving east, clearing out to the North Sea, and further

wintry showers coming in overnight. It will turn quite cold, with icy

conditions expected in parts of Wales, and into Scotland. Do not be

surprised to see a dusting of snow in the south-west of England, but

apart from that, it is a windy morning with a bit of sunshine and

heavy early showers. Some showers across Wales in the morning.

Potential for ice in parts of