Little Chapel plans ‘undermine the area’
FURTHER development of The Little Chapel site would undermine the beauty of the area, according to a businessman.
Martyn Guille has run his Gold and Silver Workshop from the Les Vauxbelets site for almost 10 years.
He said he commended The Little Chapel Foundation for its hard work and dedication in restoring the chapel over the past 18 months but was strongly opposed to what was planned next.
‘I have seen the plans for which the Little Chapel Foundation hope to get approval and frankly I am appalled at what they are proposing,’ he said.
The LCF is hoping to build an information centre, gift shop, toilets and entrance gate at the site.
Its chairman, John Silvester, said they would be asking the States for the money to do it.
Mr Guille said he already had permission to create a larger cafe within his existing building so he did not see how another would or should be allowed.
‘They also want a gift shop –which they denied they would be going for – in direct competition to me,’ he said.
The proposed building is directly next to his car park.
It is in an area of natural beauty, would require two mature beech trees to be felled and would encroach over the path that currently connects the Little Chapel to his shop.
Mr Guille questions where the LCF got its valuation of about £1m. for the current site.
‘What they are proposing and hoping for I believe is completely out of character for the site. I’m sure the Brothers, when gifting the site for £1, did not expect it to be turned into a huge money-making machine.’
The plans also include a new walk-through entrance at the car park, which he believed would become a pay entrance.
‘This would betray the very ethos of the Little Chapel as a place of serenity and peace open to visitors and locals at any time to visit, as people have done for generations.’
The Little Chapel is now locked at night and heavily monitored by CCTV, which it never had been before.
Although a toilet block would help alleviate the pressure at peak times, Mr Guille said the ones he had provided had coped well with demand.
‘I have suggested an existing building could be utilised [for toilets] but this was rejected by the trust.’
He said he took Mr Silvester’s quotation that there were currently limited facilities on the site to be a shot at him.
He and his staff had worked hard to provide tea and coffee very successfully in the past year, together with other refreshments, snacks and ice cream, and the shop was popular with tourists and locals.
‘The trust have enjoyed huge support this last 18 months from the Guernsey people but I feel they will lose public support when the enormity of what they are proposing comes out,’ said Mr Guille.
‘Once the chapel restoration is complete I’m sure the continued donations for the general upkeep will still keep coming and I will continue to support it as I have done so far.
‘The £1,000 per week [quoted by the LCF] for ongoing maintenance, however, seems excessive given that the running costs have been virtually nil for years.
‘The restoration of the chapel is wonderful for the island and a great achievement, but I hope the site will not become an over-commercialised attraction.’
