WHEN a leading consultant to the States says that planners should have been involved before a decision was made to locate Les Nicolles schools at Baubigny, it is such an obvious statement that it is hardly credible that it did not happen.
What makes it worse is that had that group of experts been consulted, they would have ruled out the site for access reasons and because there was already a better one in States ownership – Belgrave Vinery.
As planning expert Chris Shepley put it in an interview with the Guernsey Press, it was unbelievable that the planners had not been involved and that the site had simply been bought in the hope of making it work.
Consequences of not having thought through the location of the schools are making a centuries-old thoroughfare one-way, with all the attendant difficulties and rushing through far-reaching traffic changes without the consultation that residents and others believe to be appropriate.
The more fundamental point, however, is that this was not some unfortunate slip ‘in the system’ but an example of the way Guernsey’s government conducts business. For all the changes, departments still operate in silos and control and coordination are wanting. Indeed, it was that very point Mr Shepley wanted to illustrate in his wide-ranging report and he felt that Les Nicolles was a particularly good example of how not to do it.
And as we said earlier, the difficulties over location threaten to take the gloss off the opening of what will be superb new schools and centres of excellence for teachers and pupils.
The Policy Council and Environment – which the report recommends slimming to planning and transport – have yet to respond in detail to the recommendations but they are unlikely to be able to find fault with them.
If so, much work will be required to help break down what the report refers to as departmental tribalism and to move towards a cohesive system.
While the current difficulties were the work of previous States, the current House has an opportunity to prevent them from occurring again.
Then islanders really would have something to smile about.
Planning to put a smile on our faces
WHEN a leading consultant to the States says that planners should have been involved before a decision was made to locate Les Nicolles schools at Baubigny, it is such an obvious statement that it is hardly credible that it did not happen.
What makes it worse is that had that group of experts been consulted, they would have ruled out the site for access reasons and because there was already a better one in States ownership – Belgrave Vinery.
As planning expert Chris Shepley put it in an interview with the Guernsey Press, it was unbelievable that the planners had not been involved and that the site had simply been bought in the hope of making it work.
Consequences of not having thought through the location of the schools are making a centuries-old thoroughfare one-way, with all the attendant difficulties and rushing through far-reaching traffic changes without the consultation that residents and others believe to be appropriate.
The more fundamental point, however, is that this was not some unfortunate slip ‘in the system’ but an example of the way Guernsey’s government conducts business. For all the changes, departments still operate in silos and control and coordination are wanting. Indeed, it was that very point Mr Shepley wanted to illustrate in his wide-ranging report and he felt that Les Nicolles was a particularly good example of how not to do it.
And as we said earlier, the difficulties over location threaten to take the gloss off the opening of what will be superb new schools and centres of excellence for teachers and pupils.
The Policy Council and Environment – which the report recommends slimming to planning and transport – have yet to respond in detail to the recommendations but they are unlikely to be able to find fault with them.
If so, much work will be required to help break down what the report refers to as departmental tribalism and to move towards a cohesive system.
While the current difficulties were the work of previous States, the current House has an opportunity to prevent them from occurring again.
Then islanders really would have something to smile about.
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