Guernsey Press

It’s fast becoming a 'them and us' island

OH HOW lovely these country walks or a nice cycle along quiet lanes with green fields and open spaces – unfortunately, if you live in St Sampson’s or parts of the Vale, we are not afforded this luxury. What a shame that such a furore is being made about the greenfield sites with proposed development of staff accommodation for key workers. Heaven forbid that anything should be built in any other parish other than the north of the island. There is always a hue and cry if any development is proposed in the upper parishes but in the north of the island anything goes. Hundreds of houses to be exact. Pointues Rocques, Fontaine Vinery, Kenilworth Vinery, Leale’s Yard and now what was designated for the data park in Route Militaire is now going to have change of use for even more housing. This is totally unacceptable. Where will children go to school? Will new schools be built to accommodate all the children that will eventually end up living in the parish?

Published

We in the north of the island are treated as though our quality of life does not matter as long as those ‘not in my backyard’ are kept happy.

This cannot continue, do the planners ever take a trip out of their ivory tower to look at the north of the island, it is fast turning into a ghetto, completely overbuilt.

The lovely idea of one parking place in these new developments is ludicrous, a lovely idea in the world of rainbows and butterflies but if anyone thinks that people are going to car share, walk everywhere, cycle or use the very unreliable bus service they are in cuckoo land. If you go for a walk in the north of the island you take your life in your hands – it is far too dangerous.

We deserve as good a quality of life as those in the upper parishes.

We already have far and above too many houses and virtually no green space left. Use some of the disused run-down vineries that blight the island instead, but heaven forbid houses would be built in Torteval, St Saviour’s St Andrew’s or St Martin’s.

This is fast becoming a them and us island, those that have the green space and quiet lanes and those who have a built-up parish with no green space left.

The parishes of Vale and St Sampson’s have every bit of green space built on except Delancey Park and L’Ancresse Common and it cannot be allowed to continue. The strain on the infrastructure has not been thought about and I reiterate the so-called expert planners need to change their ideas of these so called centres – we are not the UK – we are a small island and all have the right to live in a pleasant environment.

We appreciate there is a need for housing but there are a lot of properties, some owned by the States, that have lain empty for years. This is not acceptable.

Something must be done, and now, to protect the people who live in St Sampson’s. These huge developments must not be allowed but as we know any protest will fall on deaf ears – nobody ever bothers about the north of the island – deputies included.

SALTPANS RESIDENT