Planned building will spoil island we love

Its combination of cute but not cutesy paired with grittiness and beauty has been a constant.

OK, so some pretty boring bungalows have been built here and there (thankfully in well-defined areas), but practically nothing has been done to mar the landscape I know and love.

Until now.

During my family's visit last month, I noticed an article about a building planned to replace the kennels on Longis Common. I realise that the present house is no great feat of architecture – and wasn't helped by a previous owner's attempt to turn it into a 'Dallas'-like homestead with inappropriate ranch-style fencing – but it is a relatively benign presence that does little to take away from the landscape surrounding it.

That cannot be said about its proposed replacement.

We are faced here, it seems, with a very poor attempt at modern architecture that the owners/designers proudly say evokes the military buildings around the island. Such endeavours are almost bound for failure. Think about attempts to put something Georgian-like in a row of genuine Georgian houses. Such poor design becomes a weak pastiche that would be laughable if it were not so sad.

Certainly more sad, this effort to conjure up the architecture of the finely crafted forts around the island is revoltingly inappropriate in this location.

It seems that the current owners and their designers have forgotten – or are ignorant, or have ignored – the fact that the kennels sit on the site of a mass grave that contained the bodies of an unknown number of slave workers brought to the island by the Nazis to extend and fortify their evil intentions.

Let us not forget that this island contained a concentration camp, along with others that were not much less cruel.

For a family with considerable Jewish ancestry, this is a fact of particularly intense emotional force, and as a neighbour – my family's holiday house, Sharp's Farm, is very near – it is quite offensive for the owners of the kennels and their architects to be alluding to this past in such a place.

Also near is the Hammond Memorial, the island's admirable commemoration of those dark days, located purposely to overlook the grave site.

The planned construction also is a punch in the eye to the islanders who made such a touching effort to acknowledge the awful things that happened in their beloved home.

And now to the more mundane.

The owners cite occasional flooding as a reason to knock down the kennels. Poor things. It seems that somehow people have occupied the property for more than a century and managed to get by.

Words to the not-so wise: If you don't want water in your house, don't buy one that is prone to flooding.

In conclusion, I hope the States and islanders prevent this proposed demolition and the abominable outcome that is planned.

Otherwise Alderney as we know and love it will forever be changed for the worse.

MATTHEW DIEBEL

139, East 94th Street,

Apt 6B,

New York,

NY 10128,

United States of America.

Editor's footnote: Darren Keung RIBA, managing director, for and on behalf of Hamon Architects, replies:

I understand your concerns are based on a small article and a photograph of the massing model. Contemporary architecture is necessarily complex and this scheme is a well considered and thought out approach that is a response to the very unusual location in which it is situated.

Careful site investigations and trial holes have revealed that it is on ground that has not been disturbed since Roman times.

Please feel free to come and discuss your concerns with us and the planning officer.

We find ourselves in challenging times – the world is evolving, progressing. Alderney needs to keep pace with the changes taking place. History should be respected, however there also needs to be healing and regeneration for the people of the island. Providing work and safeguarding the future is a part of that process – after all, this is a living island.

I do not believe that this project endangers any of the things that you have mentioned. It is bold, striking and exciting, much like the character of our beloved island, and many people have approached me to tell me how much they like the design or have changed their opinion once they have better understood how the scheme has been thought through.

Views from the surrounding areas, including the memorial and neighbouring properties, should be mitigated by the way we have harmonised the project with the landscape.

We are happy to explain how we have taken steps to lessen the impact on the view from your holiday home.