L’Ancresse’s anti-tank wall continues to divide opinion

Politicians and campaigners who led opposing sides in debates about how to deal with the anti-tank wall above the beach have described its new look alternatively as ‘ugly and expensive’ and ‘a very good job’.

Former Environment & Infrastructure president Barry Brehaut led unsuccessful proposals to tear down a 130-metre section of the eastern end of the wall and allow sand dunes to form.

He said he was unsurprised that the ‘do minimum’ approach agreed last year – which uses rock armour and concrete to protect the wall – was already making the beach gradually less attractive.

‘Those who opposed the plan to reconnect the beach to the dune system and allow the elements to create a new beach head have left islanders with an ugly and expensive legacy.

‘The rock armour has led to the loss of even more of the beach below the wall foundation,’ said Mr Brehaut.

At the time of his presidency of E&I, he warned that years of expense trying to protect or repair the eastern end of the wall instead of demolishing it could end up costing the island up to £11m. rather than an estimated £1m. under his committee’s plan. As the latest phase of protective work came to an end this week, he said it was not surprising that the ‘do minimum’ plan was costing more than originally expected.

‘The rock armour has led to the loss of even more of the beach below the wall foundation.

‘It gives me no pleasure at all to say “told you so”, but at a time of significant fiscal restraint spending tens of thousands of taxpayer pounds burying a wall beneath rock armour is a folly of some magnitude,’ he said.

But Deputy Al Brouard, who led the requete which defeated the plan to tear down the wall, strongly disagreed with Mr Brehaut’s assessment.

He was pleased with the work carried out recently and felt it looked much better than groynes, which would have been erected on the beach under the plan he defeated.

‘I visited the site two weeks ago. I believe it will give the wall the protection it needs,’ said Deputy Brouard.

‘This avoids the ugly groynes that were originally proposed which would have split the beach. Hopefully this will last for many years.’

Gary Blanchford, who led hundreds of islanders in a public campaign to keep the wall up, had visited the beach almost every day while the new phase of rock armour was being installed.

‘They have done a very good job. Rock armour is the best possible coastal protection, as it dissipates the big waves. I think it will protect the wall for years to come,’ said Mr Blanchford.

‘Nothing is ideal, but personally I think it looks a lot better than I thought it would. I thought the sun glinting on the grey granite the other morning looked quite good.’

Current E&I president Lindsay de Sausmarez has been left leading the ‘do minimum’ plan of rock armour and concrete, having previously backed the earlier proposal to remove the wall.

‘Although I voted against the requete to delay to 2030 the managed realignment and restoration of the shingle bank at L’Ancresse East, I have respected the outcome of that vote.

'As a committee, we have taken the most pragmatic and cost-effective approach possible to achieving the requete’s central aim,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.

She said she was speaking without consulting other members of her committee, but personally had not changed her mind about the disadvantages of the current approach.

‘In my opinion, the bay itself is one of Guernsey’s most beautiful, but the anti-tank wall is not, to my mind, a feature that contributes to its attractiveness.

'I also think it’s a shame that there is less sand available for beach-goers as a result of the necessary rock armouring,’ she said.

And she speculated that the original proposal to remove the eastern end of the wall could still go ahead after 2030.

‘It’s worth remembering that this is an interim measure, albeit for another seven years.

‘I’m hopeful that longer term, once the shingle bank and dune system have been allowed to reform at the back of the beach, its aesthetic and practical value will improve.’

Deputy Neil Inder, who was the first deputy to lead efforts against taking the wall down six years ago, and Deputy Peter Ferbrache, who voted for the requete, both declined to comment on the new-look beach.

Current phase of rock armour near completion

THE latest work to protect the crumbling eastern end of the anti-tank wall at L’Ancresse has been ‘substantially completed’, according to Environment & Infrastructure.

More rock armour has been placed in front of several sections of the Occupation-era structure at a cost of approximately £250,000.

‘These works will provide the deteriorating structure with additional protection in accordance with the current management approach which was agreed by the States,’ said E&I’s infrastructure officer Marco Tersigni.

The previous States debated various proposals, ranging from tearing the wall down to undertaking extensive repairs.

But last year the current States agreed instead to a ‘do minimum’ plan – to last until 2030 – under which the wall is protected rather than repaired, by putting rock armour on the beach at the foot of the structure and, if necessary, pouring further concrete into emerging voids to prevent a serious breach and sea damage to the land behind.

When the States agreed the ‘do minimum’ approach, it was expected to require an initial budget of only £100,000 to £150,000 for the rock armour now in place, plus £50,000 to £75,000 for any subsequent reactive work to each of the panels which make up the wall.