L'Ancresse wall to be debated... again

Thursday 13 February 2020

A requête, calling for a halt on plans to bring down part of the L'Ancresse wall, will be debated by the States later this month, three years after deputies agreed it should come down.

The plans for the anti-tank wall sparked controversy during debates in 2017, when deputies agreed to demolish 130m of it as part of wider proposals to re-align the bay.

Work was due to begin last year, but Environment & Infrastructure is still waiting on an environmental impact assessment which it was told to produce before a final decision could be made on the wall coming down. That is now expected to go before the States this summer - almost three years after the plans were approved, but the requête could stand in the way. 

Pictured: The L'Ancresse kiosk which has been endangered by plans to demolish the wall.

Deputy Al Brouard would like to see the work put on hold for the next ten years, while the wall continues to be maintained and stabilised.

He has lodged the requête, backed by six other States Members. It will be debated at the next meeting, which is due to begin on 26 February.

The wall was quite an emotive topic for some during the 2017 debate, with more than 300 people turning out for a protest gathering on the beach, encouraging deputies to protect it.

Save the L'Ancresse Wall, which organised the gathering, is now encouraging people in Guernsey to tell their deputies how they feel about the wall.

"I have liaised with other people that are interested, like the L'Ancresse Commons Council, the golf clubs, Festung Guernsey and Richard Heaume who runs the Guernsey Occupation Museum," said Gary Blanchford from the group. "They are all going to push their members to get in touch with the deputies.

"[The wall] needs maintenance at the moment. There's one area that E&I know that if they leave it, the wall will become damaged. It's only a small job, but they will probably just leave it."

The upcoming States Meeting will be a busy one though, with a requête on Education, Sport & Culture's 'two school' model likely to take the spotlight. For that reason, the group has decided against another protest event.

"Education are probably going to have a demonstration that day outside the court," Mr Blanchford explained. "You'll get people out for education but you won't be able to get a demonstration together for much else in Town during the winter months. I think we're better off putting the facts to the deputies again.

"This has been going on for three years now and it's difficult trying to keep people on board. The feeling is still there though. You don't get a single person you chat to that wants the wall pulled down and £1m wasted on it. It doesn't do anybody any use at all. It's a waste of money as well as the destruction of a historic unit and something that has served very well as a sea wall for the past 75 years."

The proposed demolition is expected to cost about £1million.

The requête is available to read in full here.

Pictured top: Image of L'Ancresse Wall during the recent storm courtesy of Gary Blanchford.