Landslide decision and near miss for incinerator

SARK suffered another rockfall at the weekend, when tons of granite crashed down into the quarry near Maseline Harbour, narrowly missing the incinerator.

It happened at the Public Works Department's quarry site at the foot of Harbour Hill and the only damage was to an old vehicle that was due to be shipped to Guernsey for disposal.

Public Works chairman David Melling said it was fortunate that other dumped material had been temporarily placed at the foot of the rock face because at least one of the department's tractors is usually parked there.

Conseiller Melling said it was also a blessing that the incident happened at the weekend, otherwise he and other members of the workforce might well have been in the vicinity.

'We are probably lucky also that no youngsters were in the area, as we have known them to enter the quarry at weekends to smash bottles and generally make a nuisance of themselves,' he said.

Public Works will be seeking professional advice regarding the safety or otherwise of the rock above the work area, to which much of Sark's combustible and inert waste is taken.

A more substantial rockfall happened some time ago at Grand Greve - the popular bay on the west side of La Coupee - and that has been closed for over a year while Chief Pleas addresses ways of gaining access and making the area safe.

Other falls happen from time to time in other areas of the island's coastline.

In common with places elsewhere in the Channel Islands, Sark held its annual Service of Remembrance on Sunday in weather that was far from pleasant. Despite that, ex-servicemen and members of the island's emergency services held the customary parade in front of the war memorial at St Peter's Anglican Church.

It was stirring, watching the gathering, and one could not help admiring the fortitude in the wind and rain of those taking part. There were several former servicemen in their 80s and 90s. At 95, former Royal British Legion standard-bearer Fred Teers was the oldest on parade, followed by Werner Rang, 90, who was with the German forces in Sark during the Occupation.

The wreath-laying ceremony was led by Seigneur Michael Beaumont, who laid one on behalf of the people of Sark, and he was followed by representatives of the British Red Cross, the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes and the emergency services.

The ceremony was followed by the traditional church service, which was attended by many island residents despite the inclement weather.

Chief Pleas sat last week, although members were scarcely in their seats long enough to warm them. Given the significance of the sitting - to agree amendments to the Reform Law splitting the Seneschal's roles to provide for different people to preside over the legislature and the Seneschal's Court - the haste with which matters were disposed of (it could not be called a debate because there simply wasn't one) appeared unseemly to me.

Eight minutes is an almost indecently short space of time in which to dispense with hundreds of years of history and tradition, but that emphasis on haste has become very much the trademark of this all-singing, all-dancing - and supposedly more democratic - directly-elected assembly.

Whether things will change after the forthcoming election remains to be seen, but many island residents certainly hope so. That election, on Wednesday 8 December, is for the 14 vacancies that will occur at the end of those members' two-year terms of office. The other 14 were elected for four-year terms.

* The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.