Chris Perkins made the comments after architectural and design company MSPlanning showcased plans for the Seaside Café – which was sold by the Lewis family last year – that would see the existing café and residential units replaced with a beach-themed café and a separate home set within a ‘dunescape’ environment.
The plans – which were exhibited at the site last month – would also see the private car park reduced in size, which has prompted concerns from some Islanders about the possible impact on beach-goers and businesses in the bay.
However, Mr Perkins believes that the addition of a ‘dunescape-style’ environment could benefit local wildlife, and said such a point was worth considering when debating the pros and cons of the development.
‘There are so many different perspectives on that proposal,’ he said. ‘I’ve seen the comments saying “why are they talking about putting dune land there?” but obviously from an environmental point of view, Grève de Lecq – before the days of the sea wall – would have been dune land all along. There’s just a small relic of it left so a proposal that puts an amount of semi-natural habitat back is always a good one.’
St Mary Constable John Le Bailly said that the plans were a ‘disappointment to the parish’ and that ‘trying to conform to something that looked like a conservation area’ was ‘total nonsense’.
When asked what he thought about the Constable’s comments, Mr Perkins said: ‘I would tend to disagree. There is a relic of dune land down there and there would have been a natural environment there at one time.
‘Anything that is going to help and encourage wildlife – and there are animals such as birds and green lizards that would benefit from some protected dune land – would be quite a good addition to the area.
‘We’ve lost huge amounts of our dune land so putting a little bit back on one of the bays, from an environmental point of view, is to be welcomed.
‘There’s all the planning side of things [to consider] and you have your arguments for and against the car park etcetera but that side of things, from an environmental point of view, is positive.’
