Give us a truly grand design...
ISLANDERS have wasted little time in expressing their opinions about the proposed new clubhouse mooted for the Careening Hard and of those who have done so, most are opposed to the grand designs put forward.
ISLANDERS have wasted little time in expressing their opinions about the proposed new clubhouse mooted for the Careening Hard and of those who have done so, most are opposed to the grand designs put forward.
As we said last week, good design is in the eye of the beholder and cartoonist Peewee has his own take on that on this page today. While there might be a degree of comic licence in his 'design', a 321-metre building in Dubai in the shape of a billowing sail is one of the world's most striking and luxurious hotels and a good example of what bold and imaginative architecture can achieve.
In many respects, the Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club has not done its cause any favours by letting such a high profile design competition go ahead in respect of land it does not own and has not got permission to develop from the owner.
Yes, Public Services gave the nod to allow an application to Environment but Treasury and Resources, as the 'owner' agent for the States of Guernsey, knew nothing about the proposals until reading about them in this newspaper last year.
And T&R also has a wider responsibility to ensure the best use of assets owned by the taxpayer and as the chief minister hinted yesterday, there's an awful lot of red tape to get through before anything can go ahead.
What the clubhouse discussions have highlighted, however, is what a wasted asset Guernsey has in the piers. When they were built, it was with the sole intent of driving trade and prosperity and to facilitate the island's mercantile interests.
Today, they are cluttered with cars, the owners of which do not even pay for the privilege of abandoning them there.
The piers are prime waterfront real estate and Long Port's Little Venice suggestions indicated what might be achieved with vision, some private capital and a government committed to achieving economic benefits with its own land.
A sailing club with the 'wow' factor - which is what the designers are trying to achieve - may have a place there but not as a piecemeal random intrusion.
What's needed is a truly grand design for the whole area.
* Click here to see the designs and comment on them
