Golf club applies for toilet hut on L’Ancresse Common
A NEW toilet hut could be built on L’Ancresse Common so that golfers do not have to worry about getting caught short.
The Royal Guernsey Golf Club has applied for planning permission to build two toilets between the 11th green and 12th tee off the road towards the Beach House Cafe at Pembroke, which itself has public toilets.
It is proposed that the ground level is lowered in order to allow for concealment within the surrounding gorse. There would also be a slope for wheelchair access.
A call of nature can be a difficult thing for golfers because, under a strict interpretation of the rules, they are not allowed to leave the parameters of the course to relieve themselves.
The idea is that the toilets would also be available to dog walkers and other people on the common.
Peter Blake, the president of the Vale Commons Council, was aware of the application and stressed that nothing was nailed down at this stage.
‘The club has been asking for years for a toilet hut on the common, and we’ve given them permission to make a planning application to the planning department to see how they respond, we turned down the first set of plans and the second set had some reasonable changes.
‘But it’s certainly not a done deal because if the planning department says yes, it still has to come back to the Commons Council and the habitants.’
The architects’ designs show overlapping timber boards for the external finish and a grey felt or natural timber shingle roof covering. A small area of gorse would have to be removed to allow for the 7.2 metres square construction.
The cesspit would be positioned underneath the structure to limit disturbance to the site of special significance, and the emptying point would be at the side of the road.
The site notice went up at the end of last month and members of the public have until 17 September if they wish to make a representation.
