WHEN the new St Sampson’s schools open next week, islanders’ attention, sadly, will be focused on the wrong target – anticipated traffic chaos –  rather than on the quite outstanding facilities provided for the students.
Yet the situation has been created by the States itself and the short-termism that led to the building being sited in entirely the wrong place.
That can be stated with confidence because a leading consultant engaged by the States to look at its planning service has used Les Nicolles as an example of how not to go about things.
The property was bought for educational use with no consultation with the planners who, when later told, argued that it was not suitable and pointed to at least one much better alternative.
As the expert said: ‘I agree with them that it is a quite inappropriate site, not close to its catchment or to main routes, and with likely traffic problems on the approaches which islanders will regret for generations.’
That is a damning verdict and can only detract from what is a truly fabulous facility.
Some extent of the difficulties of access can be gained from the work Environment has undertaken to try to make the approaches safe and the fact that it will not complete them until next year.
There is also an element of stealth about what it is doing.
While island speed limits are 35 or 25mph, that in what will be Guernsey’s longest and most inconvenient one-way system has been set at 20, making it a licence to print money with the aid of a police speed gun.
That said, when children are arriving at or leaving the schools, having cyclists going with the one-way flow will give it an effective 10-12mph limit at best, further adding to the frustration of using the road but reinforcing the extreme measures needed to make access safer.
The nature and extent of the measures necessary because of the wrong siting of the schools will impact heavily on residents, many of whom feel there was inadequate consultation.
The reason was that there was no point: selecting Les Nicolles demanded the imposition of a
solution at any cost.