Quayside plans will not bridge any economy gap

Besides the fact that most of the products to be sold are already available in the island and their provision on this site would reduce sales elsewhere, the only benefit might be the capital required to build the facility.

Providing 100 jobs in an island where staff is so scarce does not provide added income. Creating a building project when construction of schools, homes and hospital facilities are over-costed because of scarcity of contractors will only make matters worse.

The suggestion that the proposal would bring ‘added value’ of £6.73m. is simply wrong because all the money would come from local inhabitants and replace cash already spent elsewhere. There would be almost no gain for Guernsey.

Guernsey was assaulted with similar nonsense when proposals for Leale’s Yard were floated.

I was on the Environment Committee at the time and these ‘forecasters’ made out St Sampson’s would be a bigger shopping precinct than St Peter Port.

This large site should have been secured by the States and developed as a mixed retail and housing development – shops at ground level and three floors of housing above. There is room on the site for 50 homes or more. Guernsey could begin to make St Sampson’s develop like Honfleur, particularly if the electricity building is to become available in the future. Trafalgar Road could then have housing on both sides.

Townscapes are the only opportunity in Guernsey for development to go upwards.

We must take them all.

Roy Bisson

St Martin’s