Harbours still wants to use North Beach area
NEARLY 200 long-stay car parking spaces at North Beach should have been returned to public use last month, after a planning permission lapsed.
In 2012 the 10-hour spaces were removed from the eastern end of the car park on a temporary basis.
Then in 2015 Guernsey Harbours was granted permission to continue using the area for port operations.
But that permission was valid for only four years and lapsed on 1 February.
A new application, to keep using the land for port services, was only submitted last week [11/3]and is unlikely to be decided for several weeks.
Ports commercial manager Doug Wright of Guernsey Harbours had been in discussion with the Development & Planning Authority before February in order to secure the continued use of the North Beach car check-in area.
‘Guernsey Harbours has not returned the land in question on the North Beach to public parking as it is an operationally critical part of St Peter Port Harbour,’ he said.
‘The site is a critical part of island infrastructure that enables passenger and freight vehicle movements by ro-ro ferry. Guernsey Harbours handles 99 per cent of all goods coming in and out of the island. The area is in the Harbour Action Area in the Island Development Plan and future international maritime security codes will govern the long-term future of the site.’
In the latest application, Harbour master Captain David Barker said it was important to keep the area being used for port operations.
‘Since granting of planning permission [in 2015] for the use of the eastern section of North Beach car park as part of the port operational area, there has been a steady increase in the volume and numbers of vehicle and freight traffic passing through St Peter Port Harbour,’ he said.
‘Notwithstanding this, the port has continued to operate safely and efficiently.’
The former parts of the car park are now used for the car ferry check-in area and the ro-ro freight operations.
Captain Barker said using these areas remained essential.
The original temporary approval said the land could be used for port services for only four years while a harbour strategy was drawn up.
That was delayed then due to the introduction of the Island Development Plan in 2016.
Captain Barker said he understood that the original approval was temporary to allow a co-ordinated approach to the harbour.
‘Plans for the harbour area are heavily linked with a number of other States of Guernsey projects and programmes that seek to make the most of the appropriate use of the harbour estate,’ he said.
‘As such, the previous planning permission was provided on a temporary basis so as to not prejudice any wider initiatives. Progress is being made in terms of developing the Harbour Action Area and Seafront Enhancement Area, but it remains the case that the current layout remains vital to the conduct of safe and efficient harbour operations.’
It is hoped that the Harbour Action Area will be brought forward over the next 18 months and, with that in mind, Captain Barker said he hoped the permission would be extended by two years.
The planning application can be viewed at Sir Charles Frossard House.
