Olly Brock is part of Island Land, a company which is aiming to target brownfield sites in the island for potential development.
Describing the plans for the site in Bridge Avenue as a ‘pilot’ for the concept, he said that as well as hearing negative comments from people who thought that the higher parishes should be getting more development, there had been more positive comments.
‘Some locals have said that we need to get on and do it. They accept that things like this are necessary,’ he said.
‘I’ve also had comments from people off-island who see Guernsey as somewhere that needs to pull its socks up and embrace some change. It’s been really interesting.’
On top of those comments, other architects and people in the construction industry told him that they were pleased about the conversations that Island Land was instigating, something that they could not do for fear of risking ongoing projects.
Mr Brock and business partner Simon Bone were on the Bridge yesterday shooting drone photographs of the area.
He said that the aim was also to get an idea of what the views might be from different floors of the building.
Long-time Bridge trader Martin Search of Ray & Scott said Guernsey had to move forward and building upwards was the way ahead.
The building on its own would obviously look a bit strange, he said. ‘But we don’t know what the intentions are for other buildings nearby. We don’t know how high they may be. We have to look forward and to the future. Anything that’s built is an improvement.’
He believed that younger islanders were not all that bothered about having a garden and would be happy to live in a flat.
Nigel Robert, managing director of the Bridge Motor Shop, was unimpressed with the plans.
‘It looks like a monster to me,’ he said.
‘It’s not in keep with the area in any way whatsoever. It just doesn’t fit in with the skyline.’
A veteran of nearly 40 years as a Bridge trader, Mr Robert said he could recall the conversations about the future Leale’s Yard going back some 25 years.
‘All these hare-brained ideas. But I think that realistically this area should stay as a commercial area. This isn’t New York.’
There have been serious issues with drains and flooding in the past. He said it appeared that nobody had really thought about the infrastructure issues before coming up with plans for new development in the area.
Josh Sebire from wine merchants Black Sabre agreed that the building was out of keeping with the area.
‘On its own it looks out of place,’ he said.
There have also been plans for the former Beekers building nearby which he had seen, he said.
‘That looks a bit like something from Admiral Park.
‘Obviously, you have a very distinctive look on the Bridge and in St Peter Port, and I think these plans are a bit over the top.’
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