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St Helena is currently making an application to the International Dark-Sky Association for International Dark Skies Status. Dark Skies Accreditation will contribute to protecting the Island’s environment as well as increasing the Island’s attraction to potential stargazers and tourists alike. 

To meet the requirements needed for St Helena to become Dark Skies compliant, Legislative Council recently approved changes to the Environmental Protection Ordinance, 2016 to make provision for the following:

Supporting Regulations and policy will now be developed to give effect to some of these new provisions in the Ordinance.

Notes to editors

The International Dark-Sky Association is a United States based non-profit organisation incorporated in 1988.  It is the recognised authority on light pollution and is the leading organisation combating light pollution worldwide.  It promotes win-win solutions that allow people to appreciate dark, star-filled skies while enjoying the benefits of responsible outdoor lighting.

Previous updates on St Helena’s application for Dark Skies status can be found online here:

SHG
15 July 2021   

St Helena’s ‘brand’

Every person who has lived on or visited St Helena gets an impression of the Island, such as:

One way of interpreting that impression is through the Island’s ‘brand.’

But no wide-scoping research has yet gone into clearly defining the community’s identity or perception of our ‘brand’.

As the Island’s marketing efforts change shape, being able to clearly and concisely define and articulate our ‘brand,’ and let that brand underscore all our promotional activities, is at the top of the agenda:

‘Brand St Helena’

The goal is to turn the natural impression of the Island – St Helena’s ‘brand’ – into a community-led, clear definition of who we are and what we value – into a tangible ‘Brand St Helena.’

Brand St Helena would afterwards inform, and be at the forefront of, all of St Helena’s promotional efforts.

We want the people and culture of the Island – and the values, beliefs and goals most commonly shared – to form the basis of all the Island’s marketing and promotion. To celebrate our unique community and define the things we most love. To ensure that our marketing efforts align with the community’s goals. To put people at the forefront of what St Helena ‘is’.

How are we doing this?

SHG’s Sustainable Development Team will be contacting a wide variety of stakeholders over the coming weeks to conduct short one-on-one interviews. The aim is to collect views from a diverse set of stakeholders in order to let the community define the new ‘Brand St Helena.’

Questionnaires will also be made available to the general public once initial stakeholder interviews have been completed.

A competition will also be run in the schools, allowing school children of all ages to feed into the brand.

Further information will be published in local newspapers, aired on local radio and placed on social media in due course.

All names will be kept confidential.

For more information please contact Marketing Manager, Emma Weaver, via: emma.weaver@sainthelena.gov.sh or on tel: 22470.

SHG

15 July 2021

Today is World Youth Skills Day. This United Nations’ observed day celebrates the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship.

Here is a feature in which we look at the opportunities available for young people to upskill on St Helena, hear from a student currently on the Apprenticeship Scheme and introduce you to the newly established Career Access St Helena and the key role they have in upskilling our young people into professions needed on the Island.

The public is reminded that the deadline for comments on the draft Archives Lending Policy is tomorrow, Friday 16 July 2021.

The draft Policy has been established to ensure the safety and security of the documents in the St Helena Government Archives to facilitate the safe loaning of documents for on-Island exhibitions. It covers the entire loan process and outlines the criteria to be met for the loan of documents.

The draft Policy is available in hard copy at the Post & Customer Services Centre, the Public Library and at the Castle Reception in Jamestown and can also be requested from Nicole Plato via: nicole.plato@sainthelena.gov.sh. An electronic copy is available on the Public Consultation page of the SHG Website at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/government/public-consultation/.

Anyone wishing to make any comment on the draft Policy may do so in writing to the Executive Assistant, Nicole Plato, Central Support Service, at the Castle, Jamestown, or via the above email address by no later than tomorrow, Friday 16 July 2021.

SHG

15 July 2021

St Helena Police are currently conducting an education and awareness programme for the local community. Each week a different topic will be aired on local radio stations, issued via information releases and posted on Social Media.

This week’s topic is Noise Abatement:

This week we would like to make the public aware of the law regarding Noise Abatement: This legislation can be found under Section 12 of the Summary Offences Ordinance which is available for the public to read on the St Helena Government Website.


Noise Abatement is to reduce noise from a given source and to protect people from being exposed to such noise.

For a person to commit an offence under this section the circumstances existing at the time must be unreasonably caused or likely to cause an annoyance or nuisance to occupiers of nearby premises.

Elements which should be taken into account are:
a) The time of day
b) The source of the noise and the reason for its noise
c) The event (if any) giving rise to the noise; and
d) The duration of the noise.

Common reports involving noise include: ‘The neighbour is playing loud music at 2am ’, ‘the neighbour is doing maintenance on their house and I am working from home’ or even ‘the neighbour is revving up there car engine and we are trying to sleep’.

Other reports received by Police include dogs barking and causing a nuisance and drivers with the music volume turned up loud in their cars when driving past.

While there is a law to assist in these matters, many of these issues can be solved by being neighbourly. If you have tried to resolve the matter yourself but have been unsuccessful then please call the Police.

The penalty for this type of offence could be as much as a fine of £100.

SHG,

13 July 2021

The Governance Reform Implementation Group continues to progress the separate strands of work to take forward the constitutional changes needed for our new Ministerial system of government.

This is the third update.

A formal meeting of Legislative Council will take place on Friday, 16 July 2021, at 10am in the Council Chamber. This is the first sitting of the twenty-sixth meeting of Legislative Council and will be broadcast live via SAMs Radio 1. The meeting is also open to members of the public who wish to attend.

This will be the Budget Session with the Financial Secretary delivering his Budget Speech for the 2021/22 financial year.

The meeting will continue on Monday, 19 July, when Elected Members will give their responses to the Financial Secretary’s Budget Speech and thereafter will conclude with the customary Adjournment Debate, giving each Elected Member the opportunity to raise various Island issues.

A full Order Paper for the meeting will be published on the SHG website shortly at:

Order Papers

SHG

14 July 2021

During the period of Monday, 5 July, to Sunday, 11 July 2021, St Helena Police dealt with a total of 42 reports, resulting in four arrests.


One person was arrested for Common Assault and is now on bail with conditions.


One person was arrested for Sexual Activity with a child and is now on bail with conditions.

One person was arrested for Assault and was charged to appear before the Court.


Another person was arrested for Assault and is now on bail with conditions.

Other reports included two Road Traffic Offences and a Domestic Incident which is still under investigation. There was a report of Harassment, a Breach of conditions of a Court Order and a report of Anti-social Behaviour, which were all dealt with by officers.


This week Police proactively carried out a number of Community Engagements as well as serving summons and Court letters.

St Helena Police would like to thank the community and partnering agencies for their continued support and assistance in keeping St Helena safe.


Until next time, have a good week and stay safe!

SHG
14 July 2021

An Open-Day Social Care recruitment event was held at the Princess Royal Community Care Complex (CCC) between 10am and 3pm on Wednesday, 7 July 2021.

This open day event allowed persons interested in working in Social Care to talk with staff in their working environment and to learn more about what the roles entail and why they enjoy doing the job that they do. Interested persons were given the opportunity to be interviewed for Support Workers and Care Assistants on the day.

Manager of the CCC, Rosalie Brown, commented:

“The purpose of this event was to let the Island know we are recruiting for staff to work in a number of our services with older adults. The event was also to try and get interest from school kids 15 + to talk to them about when they leave school if they like to start a career in Social Care and consider doing a placement here or undertaking an Apprenticeship, which could go towards achieving a qualification. We as a Service are trying to recruit and retain staff from the Island so that we can invest in the care of older people. The event was not as successful as we would have liked, but we did get some interest and people said they would consider this kind of work. We are hoping to continue about every six weeks with these events.”

  • Displays at the CCC
  • Students with CCC residents

#StHelena #SocialCare #AltogetherSafer

SHG

12 July 2021

The Capital Programme Section of the Treasury, Infrastructure and Sustainable Development portfolio would like to inform the public of the following details on the Economic Development Investment Programme (EDIP) budget for the financial year 2021/22.

Her Majesty’s Government have agreed an allocation of circa £4.0 million for the EDIP budget 2021/22.  The budget for the programme as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is £15 million over a four-year period. 

£1.5 million of this year’s budget will be used to settle existing contractual commitments from the previous year and the remaining £2.5 million will be used for the following projects:

Approval has also been given for development of a Water Security Project.

It is anticipated that further budget provision will be made available for 2022/23 which will enable progression of the remaining projects under Phase 1 and the completion of projects such as those related to Rupert’s and the Roads 2 Project.

The St Helena Government continues to work in partnership with colleagues from Her Majesty’s Government to develop the Island’s infrastructure which in turn will enable further sustainable economic and social growth.

#StHelena #EDIPBudget #2021/22

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/

SHG
9 July 2021