Tourist office a great place for a casino

Below I have set out a more detailed opinion of what could rejuvenate the future of Town and in a cost-effective manner. No doubt the ideas will meet with much resistance from some, but I hope the following will provoke additional brainstorms and contributions that lead to rejuvenation of the Town and harbour seafront and promote additional tourism and revenue for the island generally and most importantly, with the shortest possible time frame to put into place.

Here is a summary of ideas:

. Initially, move the bus terminus to North Beach, only leaving two buses at original site in order to provide a constant short circulation service out of this area up to St Martin’s and back. Remove car parking from Crown Pier and adjoining round-top arm. Return the present bus terminus area to car parking, also the small strip of grass by the Vivier Bunker should be made into car parking.

. La Vallette: currently no new building is wanted or needed in this area, but the area does need to be fully maintained to a better standard of amenities and attractiveness, especially after the excellent public partnership work carried out.

. Create a pedestrian area on the seafront from Town Church to the Weighbridge. The amount of landscaping/restyling of the area between the Crown and Weighbridge would depend on whether the road sections would become a permanent or seasonal use only. The Crown Pier to be landscaped with small amenities areas, and outdoor concert facilities incorporated. The round-top arm could be tastefully decorated with floral sections, also petanque sets could be established along this arm to allow local clubs an attractive venue throughout the summer, as well as provide entertainment for the public in the general area of the Crown Pier. As to the actual round-top site, all adaptable ideas should be considered. The Crown Pier and arm would become a very popular area with its views into the marina and across the main harbour and beyond.

. For the old States office and now tourist office site, probably this will be the most contentious suggestion, seeing that there are already proposals put forward for an art gallery, art centre and Victor Hugo promotional area. All very nice, but will it draw in the substantial tourist and income stream that the Town needs? I doubt this.

In fact, I would propose that the States office building become a carefully managed high-end casino.

Oh no, I hear.

However this could become a major source of income, attracting visitors to St Peter Port and Guernsey generally.

. The North Plantation site alongside the States building could provide a well-designed large walk-through exotic bird aviary, without losing the green aspect of this area, but at the same time attracting many to view it. Should a casino be established, then perhaps to gain further income during the summer, cruise ship companies should be approached and negotiated with in order to see if overnight anchorage would be considered.

If this were to be established, then St Peter Port, in particular with a casino, could have a further income stream during the summer months from ship passengers during the evening, also boosting the local restaurant sector. An enhanced St Peter Port would also see an increase of visiting yachts too.

. Returning to the harbour seafront. During the summer, restaurants, cafes, bars etc., could extend their frontages with decking and other furniture, with suitable covering for patrons. Appropriate seating areas could be re-established for the public overlooking the marina. Floral Guernsey and the parks and gardens department could turn the whole of the pedestrian areas into a glorious spectacle over the summer months.

With the pedestrian areas in place over the summer, more events could be initiated too in this traffic-free zone. In addition to the establishment of the pedestrian Town seafront, I believe the whole of St Peter Port as viewed from the harbour and beyond could also be made amazingly attractive at night with use of specialist light arrays, such subtle lighting with selected moods or graphics enhancing the panorama of buildings arising from seafront. This certainly would portray St Peter Port as the jewel in the crown, as it is often described to have been in the past.

For the selected control of business service vehicles, thoroughfare services etc. to access the areas out of normal business hours, the installation of remote-controlled rising stainless steel barrier poles at either end of the pedestrianised areas should be used. These are very common and effective elsewhere and would also allow taxis to operate the barriers when collecting clients from seafront establishments and inner Town streets. All emergency vehicles would also be able to operate the remote barriers at any time. I have seen and experienced these remote-controlled barriers in the old quarters of various European towns when visiting pedestrian-only streets where restaurants are situated. These barriers are efficient and more visually acceptable than any other type I know.

. The proposed art gallery/art centre/Victor Hugo centre could be located within the Market buildings, which have never been fully optimised since their completion.

If this were to happen, then the Victor Hugo centre could easily communicate with the Hauteville House curators to organise specifically well-timed tour groups to be transported up to Hugo’s house. This would allow a much more efficient use of the opening periods of the house.

. A new site for tourist information: Without having any specific knowledge of available positions, I would suggest it should be close to the Albert Pier, specifically for the cruise ship landings, as passenger shore times are limited and close proximity would be a benefit. Piquet House or the Albany location of the electricity building could both be good options.

All of the above could be put into place in a relatively short time and at a not too excessive cost. I would suggest the overall benefits in income would be significant to the island by way of increased visitor numbers, visiting yachts and perhaps reintroduction of better inter-island travel services from Aurigny or others, as Guernsey could benefit highly from short-term visitors from Jersey too, should the right marketing be put in place.

If the idea of a casino was turned down on a matter of some out-of-date principles within the island and the States of Guernsey itself, then I think the States should take a good look at themselves. At this time they promote the huge sale of scratch cards locally and allow large-scale national betting organisations to operate from within the islands, so there are no moral grounds for rejecting a well-regulated public-owned casino.

In conclusion, there are other aspects that should be considered within and around the Town and the Old Quarter if the above ideas were taken up quickly, but I guess none of this will happen anyway, so I will not set these out at this time.

Moving on, as for parking close to Town right now, I am surprised that the States did not snap up the sites of the old CI Tyre company and that alongside when they were for sale in the recent past. A multi-storey car park there could have helped St Peter Port Town and seafront greatly. Now, in my opinion, there is only one longer-term project area left that could alleviate parking issues for the Town, without having any significant visual impact on the environment.

PS: Any consultation fees due can be sent to me at my address shown below.

M W TAYLOR

Val Plaisance, 79 Mount Durand,

St Peter Port, GY1 1DY.