Seafront enhancement ‘should include sports’
SPORT should form part of the seafront enhancement programme, a group of local organisations have said.
The comments follow the launch of a consultation, with islanders being encouraged to come up with ideas for how six east coast sites could be used.
The Youth Commission, Guernsey Sports Commission, the Guernsey Sailing Trust, Guernsey 2021 Island Games committee and Be Active have all joined together to issue a shared response.
It focuses on six points – that sport and physical activity should be prominent in the area, the environment should encourage healthy living, it must adhere to the Unicef Friendly Cities initiative, celebrate the sea, learn from elsewhere and we should look at sports tourism.
Health improvement commissioner Alun Williams said it was vital these principles were taken into consideration.
‘We should be thinking about sports and activities when making these sorts of plans for the future,’ he said.
‘It’s so important for people’s health and wellbeing.’
The sites involved in the consultation include La Vallette, the North Plantation and the Vivier bunker on Castle Emplacement
The group put out several ideas, which they thought would be interesting to explore. These included looking at having a water feature, which could be used during the 2021 opening ceremony, and possibly installing a breakwater from the Cow’s Horn to Castle Cornet.
The latter would create a new accessible area in Havelet Bay, which would improve access to sheltered waters.
Accessibility is an important part of what the groups want to see.
The trust’s chief instructor and sailing development officer, Clare Chapple, said the tide was creating a big challenge for them, which meant they needed to use different slipways and pontoons at different stages of the tide. She said they were also keen to see disabled parking improved.
‘Currently disabled parking is designed for people to go into Town, rather than go out on the water,’ she said.
She also highlighted that it could be challenging for larger vehicles, like buses bringing down school children, to access Castle Emplacement.
The groups are also keen to highlight the challenges of climate change and how they affect coastal infrastructure and wanted this to be taken into account when looking at doing work.
n For more details on the sites visit www.gov.gg/seafront. The deadline for the public to submit ideas was [FRI] yesterday but formal expressions of interest can be submitted to Watts and Co up until Wednesday.
