'Please consider residents'

It seems to me as though we are invisible and that our quality of life and indeed our very safety on the roads where we live are an inconvenient obstacle to be brushed aside with platitudes and be overcome by meaningless traffic movement surveys that defy common sense.

The front page of the Guernsey Press of 25 January highlights the proposed development of Le Platon – very laudable, as we all know that we need more care home accommodation – but it is self-evident that the road infrastructure is quite incapable of taking more traffic.

The years of development which would occur if the plans were approved, with builders' heavy trucks travelling to the site would be bad enough; and then once development was finished, pedestrians, many of whom are school children, would walk the narrow streets on pavements that vehicles are constantly having to mount.

The streets are inadequate now, parking is inadequate now, further increases in the number of callers to Le Platon who would not be able to find onsite parking will cause more headaches for residents.

This is but one example of developments that have been recently highlighted in the Press, such as the old Warry's Bakery site and the proposed Guelles Road development, both where parking and traffic flows are of concern to those that live in the vicinity.

My point is that planners and developers of even the most well-meaning projects, developments that the community really needs, seem blind to the fact that we are pumping more and more traffic down roads and junctions that can barely cope now and which residents have daily to negotiate, in many cases in what any reasonable person would call dangerous conditions with few proper crossings and totally inadequate pavements.

It really is time that before more developments in the 'main centres' are put forward, the road infrastructure and the quality of life and safety of the residents in the vicinity become the overriding consideration of planners, and not something to be treated as an inconvenience to progress.

This is not to say that any of these projects should not go ahead, but solutions need to found and implemented that are acceptable to the immediate residents, such as making roads one way or no through roads.

I live quite close to the horrible rubbish tip at the corner of Le Bouet and Elizabeth Avenue and I would dearly like to see it cleaned up and developed – it's an eye sore – but this cannot be at the cost of pedestrian safety and increasing traffic at the already traffic-saturated Vrangue junction.

The planners in this case and of all other developments must make these matters a priority, or face increasing and organised objections from residents who deserve their environment to be of a reasonable standard.

I would invite interested people to read the 'Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance "Parking Standards and Traffic Impact Assessment".'

This document explains why Environment are passing plans which provide inadequate parking spaces for today's modern society.

It is quite noticeable that the recent proposed development close to the 'local centre' of St Martin's was turned down after very vocal objection by residents who voiced similar concerns to those I have expressed.

Let's hope our planners can give the residents of St Peter Port the same level of consideration as our out-of-town cousins seem to enjoy.

MIKE HENDERSON,

Ma Carriere,

Le Petit Bouet,

St Peter Port.

mikehenderson738@gmail.com