Route Carre residents conflicted about site
NEIGHBOURS of the derelict Guernsey Freesia Centre have conflicting views of what they hoped would happen to the area.
The one-acre site in St Sampson’s, at one time signposted as a tourist attraction, opposite Marks & Spencer food hall, is one of eight new sites listed as having the potential for housing in the latest amendments to the Island Development plan.
The centre in Route Carre, also known as Fletcher’s Freesias, appears to have ceased trading late in 2020 although no official announcement was ever made. A number of the greenhouses were damaged during Storm Ciaran and have fallen into disrepair.
James Hunter, who lives opposite the centre, said he would be happy for it to be used for housing.
‘It’s not a pretty picture at the moment,’ he said.
‘And you have to build somewhere, so this does look a likely site. However, I’m not sure how many homes they would be thinking off. I’ve spoken to the owner recently and I think he would be in favour.’
A couple living at the nearby Ker Maria housing complex, who preferred not to be named, said they ‘would sooner it is developed for housing, rather than left in the untidy state it is now’.
However, their son-in-law expressed concerns about the effect on the traffic in the area.
‘That junction is already one of the worst on the island, so this could make it worse,’ he said.
‘And the queue for the lights often stretches back to the entrance into that site, which could play havoc with the traffic wanting to get in and out of the supermarket car park there.
'I hope the planners have got a plan for that.’
Another neighbour was less enthusiastic and said that she also had concerns about increased traffic.
‘Something needs to be done to the site, but the road and the traffic is horrendous. With M&S here as well, just getting out of the drive will get worse and worse.’
She pointed at a development further up the road.
‘That’s just a small space, but they are fitting eight houses on it,’ she said. ‘What will they put on the Freesia Centre? You’d think at least 20 or 30 houses. The road won’t be able to cope.
‘You think with all the derelict greenhouses on the island they could convert to housing they would look somewhere else.’
Efforts were made to contact the owner of the site but were unsuccessful.
n Full details of the proposed amendments to the Island Development Plan can be found at https://gov.gg/IDP-review. The public are being invited to contribute to the consultation, which is open until the end of March.
