ON SATURDAY, the Long Port Group took out a full page advertisement in this newspaper to seek expressions of interest in its 16-acre Saltpans Park redevelopment centred on the former St Sampson’s vinery site.
The move marks a departure in the way such industrial developments are structured and islanders will be interested to see how the area, which used to be open fields and wetland before being converted for horticultural production, changes.
Long Port, which has a strong track record in the UK for sensitive projects, says Saltpans Park is an important investment as the future development of the site is vital to Guernsey’s economy.
‘We have exciting plans for the site which will be driven by local demand and will begin to relieve the considerable pressure that exists for industrial property of all types throughout the island,’ it said. Few will disagree with that but what will be crucial is how ‘local demand’ shapes the site.
With industrial warehouses selling for around three quarters of a million pounds, there is a lot of money at stake and a 16-acre site with development permission does not come cheap either. In part, those high prices are driven by scarcity and the profitability of the enterprises that need the accommodation. However, one of the key demands of the sector is space for some of the most basic operations - the Fred in a shed-type business - and the level of under-provision for it led to one of the most bitter disputes seen between the previous Commerce and Employment and Environment departments.
Saltpans Park, with an emphasis on ‘clean’ trades such as disaster recovery, storage and archiving, does not immediately appear to offer a natural or affordable home to such operations.
And there is a desperate lack of a shed for Fred, particularly since the evictions from Leale’s Yard. That, of course, was a consequence of the planning authorities’ actions in giving the go ahead for a much wider development and, while it was the correct decision, is it right that small businessmen, struggling to make a living, should be collateral casualties?
If Saltpans Park is the planners’ way of putting things right, islanders will applaud Environment.
If not, it will be taken as further evidence that ‘up’ and ‘joined’ never quite made it.
Fred needs a shed in the Park
ON SATURDAY, the Long Port Group took out a full page advertisement in this newspaper to seek expressions of interest in its 16-acre Saltpans Park redevelopment centred on the former St Sampson’s vinery site.
The move marks a departure in the way such industrial developments are structured and islanders will be interested to see how the area, which used to be open fields and wetland before being converted for horticultural production, changes.
Long Port, which has a strong track record in the UK for sensitive projects, says Saltpans Park is an important investment as the future development of the site is vital to Guernsey’s economy.
‘We have exciting plans for the site which will be driven by local demand and will begin to relieve the considerable pressure that exists for industrial property of all types throughout the island,’ it said. Few will disagree with that but what will be crucial is how ‘local demand’ shapes the site.
With industrial warehouses selling for around three quarters of a million pounds, there is a lot of money at stake and a 16-acre site with development permission does not come cheap either. In part, those high prices are driven by scarcity and the profitability of the enterprises that need the accommodation. However, one of the key demands of the sector is space for some of the most basic operations - the Fred in a shed-type business - and the level of under-provision for it led to one of the most bitter disputes seen between the previous Commerce and Employment and Environment departments.
Saltpans Park, with an emphasis on ‘clean’ trades such as disaster recovery, storage and archiving, does not immediately appear to offer a natural or affordable home to such operations.
And there is a desperate lack of a shed for Fred, particularly since the evictions from Leale’s Yard. That, of course, was a consequence of the planning authorities’ actions in giving the go ahead for a much wider development and, while it was the correct decision, is it right that small businessmen, struggling to make a living, should be collateral casualties?
If Saltpans Park is the planners’ way of putting things right, islanders will applaud Environment.
If not, it will be taken as further evidence that ‘up’ and ‘joined’ never quite made it.
Article posted on 4th August, 2008 - 2.30pm