We had no idea about bombs, say Route Isabelle residents

The bombs’ location emerged last week through historic records supplied by local bomb disposal expert Ben Remfrey, who said he could no longer keep quiet about the possible existence of the devices, which were believed to have been dropped in 1941.

Police confirmed that they had been aware of the issue since 2018, and said that both the British Army and a non-invasive survey from 2019 had found there to be no immediate risk to the public.

However, Mr Remfrey has questioned the thoroughness of those investigations, saying that such a survey would not have been able to find any bombs if they were buried deeply underground.

Residents of Wellington Close – a five-year-old housing development at the bottom of Route Isabelle – were not willing to speak when the Guernsey Press visited the area yesterday.

But residents in neighbouring Merriman Court – which is also about five years old – spoke of their concern upon hearing news of the bombs’ existence.

Cyndi Lunn, who has lived at her home in Merriman Court since July 2020, said official documents relating to the purchase of her property made clear that the land on which it was situated was safe.

However, she said they made no explicit reference to the possibility of bombs being buried near the site.

‘I guess technically they have checked the land if they did a survey, but it’s still a bit unnerving to hear about,’ she said.

‘It’s not something you expect.’

Hazel Brown moved into her home in Merriman Court in June 2020, and like Ms Lunn, she said she was not told about the bombs at any stage of moving in.

‘Even if the area was deemed to be safe, it’s something I would have wanted to know about,’ she said. ‘I was never made aware.’

She said the news was ‘a bit worrying’, and hoped the States would consider revisiting the case in light of the claims made by Mr Remfrey.

Former deputy Mary Lowe was president of Home Affairs until October 2020, which was after the non-invasive survey was undertaken that summer.

She did not wish to comment when contacted.

The field where the bombs are believed to still lie is on the border of the St Peter Port outer boundary. Sites on the boundary of local and main centres have been developed in the past, such as Les Blanches in St Martin’s.

But director of planning Jim Rowles said the land did not need further protection from development.

‘With the land being outside of main or local centres, the current planning policies do not allow for any development which might have a bearing on this matter and should any change to that be proposed in future the matter would be reassessed,’ he said.

There is no mention of the possibility of bombs in the February 2019 permission for Wellington Close. The survey of the land took place later that summer.

‘The Planning Service was made aware of the matter before the application was approved and considered the outcome of the investigation conducted at that time,’ Mr Rowles said.