Working to get beach back
Tuesday 22nd March 2011, 2:00PM GMT.
Jeremy La Trobe-Bateman – pictured on the end of the rope – leading a group of volunteers cutting a new path to allow resumed access to Grande Greve beach on the west side of La Coupee. (1113662)
THE popular Grande Greve beach near La Coupee could be open again soon – thanks to some hard work by volunteers.
The beach – popular with tourist and resident families, as well as visiting boat owners – has been closed for months because of a large landslide and the threat of further slips.
But just a couple of weeks ago, Jeremy La Trobe-Bateman said in a note on shop noticeboards that another possible route for the access path had been identified and called for volunteers to give up a few hours on Saturday afternoon to help clear it. About 20 of them turned up – all with a better head for heights than I have – and set to work with a will.
The new path will be a sort of extension of the start of the existing one at the north end of La Coupee and the volunteers cleared to within about 50ft of the beach, a quite remarkable achievement for one afternoon’s hard labour.
I am told that they want to continue tomorrow afternoon and could, of course, do with as many willing hands as possible.
That sort of voluntary effort is very much in keeping with the community spirit that exists in Sark – the sort that makes people from elsewhere realise (sometimes, perhaps, although not always) that not every problem needs to have money thrown at it in order to solve it.
As Jeremy said in his original note, the island’s workmen have enough to do already.
Those who have worked on this project will earn the grateful thanks of all those who use Grande Greve beach – families and boat owners.
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I read the other day that royal assent has been given to a backlog of legislation approved by the States of Guernsey and wondered what had become of the amendment to Sark’s Reform Law which would allow by-elections in Chief Pleas to take place a good deal more quickly than they are at present. The vacancies caused by the resignation of David Pollard and the death of Stephen Henry within a year of them first being elected to four-year terms of office as conseillers in the inaugural general election in December 2008 have still not been filled.
That has led to the quite ludicrous situation of there having been another general election in December last year but no machinery existing to allow those casual vacancies to be filled at that time.
It would have been simplicity itself to declare 16 vacancies instead of the 14 for those who were elected for two-year terms and decree that the two lowest-placed successful candidates should complete the terms of office of Mr Pollard and the late Dr Henry.
Chief Pleas approved the necessary amendment last year and there can only be three places it can be delayed – here, Guernsey and Whitehall.
I very much doubt that the delay is Sark’s fault, I hope it’s not Guernsey’s and, given its track record, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Whitehall is sitting on it, although quite why is anyone’s guess.
In the meantime, the 26 remaining conseillers continue to do the work of 28 and the people of Sark continue to be disenfranchised to the tune of two of their elected representatives.
*
Before I close, a word of apology to Hazel Fry for me forgetting to mention last week that the Lenten lunches are being held until Easter at The Vicarage.
* The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net.
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I am surprised that the absurd Paul, Sarkman and the other painfully transparent B-team members can’t find some basis to distort this report to the detriment of Michael Beaumont and those others who regard their roles as stewards of the charming Isle of Sark, not exploiters of the weaker minded members of the bemused population, who they are deluded enough to imagine will believe their preposterous innuendo and nonsense.
I expect the next edition of the Sark News is preparing a leader to exhort the island to learn the vital lessons of democracy from the UK (and most of the rest of the EU) and start running up vast debts to pay for La Coupee’s repairs, and pay the workforce a copper bottomed pension from the age of 50, in order, to buy votes at the next elections?
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Larky
From the look of the photograph just be grateful that ‘elf & safety’ legislation hasn’t taken over in Sark
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Larky
I congratulate Jeremy La Trobe-Bateman & the team of volunteers for their fine selfless community spirit.
However, this area has been zoned as unstable. I would like some comment from the Seigneur, or his tasked department, as to the legal standing if a volunteer or member of the general public is injured whilst negotiating this new path?
Would they be insured by Sark?
If not, why not?
Is a risk assessment survey going to take place as to the suitability of the new path with regards to future users health & safety?
Here is what the island funded expert had to say about the future stability of it:
http://www.thisisguernsey.com/2010/03/26/grande-greve-landslide-could-cost-sark-1m/
Will Michael Beaumont make a public spectacle with the unveiling of signs stating:
D A N G E R
UNSTABLE CLIFF FACE
USE AT OWN RISK
I wish to take nothing away from the well intentioned efforts in the slightest. Society the world over needs more good people like them.
I question what the policy makers have in place to protect them as well as everybody else.
Maybe it’s time they started to show democracy & answer all reasonable questions so openness & transparency can be shown as a starting point for the future.
I’m well aware some may see my comments as unhelpful to the old feudal ways of the island. Would it be best to ignore all eventualities & worry only when somebody is killed?
A little bit of foresight & some answers from those that claim to serve the interests of the islanders should not be too much to ask.
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@Paul
It’s impressive how thoroughly you can take a simple matter of common sense and turn into a further assault on those whose responsible stewardship of Sark over many years has left the island as a unique and widely appreciated haven, where personal responsibility and common sense still prevail (just) over the dafter diktats of the nanny state and its space-wasting enforcers. (The nannies include wealth dissipaters exist in both the public sector, and the many opportunists of the ambulance-chasing private sector – of which you appear to be one).
I cannot help but gain the impression that you might be a hired lobbyist of some sort, since you pounce on any discussions to espouse views that have been thoroughly trounced twice at the island elections, despite the crudest of efforts to buy the results sought by the “B Team”. Just because a handful of loudmouths appear to dominate the media in this concerted campaign, does not appear to reflect the wishes of the people themselves, who have better things to do on an island that is almost unique in its ability to retain a demographic spread when most UK island communities of this size are in terminal decline.
The way the B team can morph any matter into some excuse to insult (with or without occasional faint praise) the Seigneur either belies an astonishingly small and narrow mind, or one that is being paid to be absurd. Of course climbing up and down any cliff is fraught with obvious risks; it doesn’t require membership of mensa to realise this.
Of course the professional advice is going to err on the cautious – and encourage vast sums to be spent on professional services of all sorts. It’s how the H&S industry perpetuates itself. Just wait and see how much the Japanese reactors will cost to sort out – including the costs arising from the abandonment of this clean and (generally) safe form of energy – then compare the number of dead from that event with the numbers still killed in coal mines. It should be possible to install simple landslip detectors such as lasers aimed at reflectors embedded in the suspect zones that could monitor the underlying conditions and provide immediate alerts. But that would cost ~£5k, not the £1m that the report seeks to scare from the island coffers.
Modern manipulators of reality have hijacked proportionality and quite cleverly bent the media’s attention to suit their hectoring purpose without any real consideration of the underlying facts. I am interested that Rickeard’s report on La Coupee included reference to “Global Warming”. Well it would have to, wouldn’t it?
As to “the old feudal ways of the island”, this presumes the proposition that “democracy” is invariably the answer, and cannot be questioned without immediately consigning the questioner and all his/her subsequent views to derision, does not even bear the briefest analysis.
The fiscal disaster of recent times largely took place in countries notionally labelled “democratic” because, as one Greek politician observed 3,000 years ago – “in a democracy, the people will always vote to spend all the money”. Gordon Brown very crudely bought 3 general elections, initially with the legacy of the hard grind of the previous administration’s effort to sort out the previous Labour economic disaster – and then when that was all spent, he used fairy money (created by the discredited bankers he knighted) to create the wholly unsustainable client state that now marches to demand it right to continue to exist – although it creates no wealth whatever, and only exists to spend money.
However, it is a brave person in these hysterical times that suggests that democracy isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, since it invariably ends up in the hands of those with the money, and that by far the most efficient form of government is benevolent despot, where “noblesse oblige” exists, tempered with commons sense. Precisely what kept Sark happy and different until – wait for it – money stepped in, and set about change specifically in the interests of that money – but disguised in the specious cloak of democracy, so that no one could possibly criticise the motives.
Any dispassionate outside observer of the tactics the “money’s poodle press” directed again individuals is left with the impression that there are a number of characters engaged to operate a campaign of propaganda, abuse and hectoring.
All those involved have surely disqualified themselves from any credibility when the reckoning arrives – for believe me, the antics on Sark have not gone unnoticed in high places, and Westminster is not nearly as stupid (or supine) as the out-of-touch B team appear to assume.
Those who imagine the campaigns of personal abuse will eventually achieve their objectives through sheer attrition may yet come horribly unstuck, and find themselves buried by a avalanche of evidence and public humiliation that might make the land slip at La Coupee seem like a minor accident in a sand pit. Ultimately of course, if you don’t like Sark, then go in peace, and give another society the benefit of your presence. There are probably many on the Island who would gladly pay your (one way) ticket to the democratic haven of your choice.
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Larky
Thank you very much for the kind & generous offer. I am happy & perfectly able to sort out my own travel arrangements.
Please feel free to donate the cash equivalent to a charity or good cause instead though.
I make my own mind up too. There’s no hidden agenda as far as I’m concerned.
It was you who poked me on this thread. I responded. What is your point exactly?
Can I draw out answers to sensible questions from the policy makers?
Will this be the start of democracy?
Let’s hope so!
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One of the interestingly perverse things about the usual interpretation of democracy that frequently gets overlooked, is that that those who are “democratically” elected are delegated to get on with running matters without being expected to hold a “show of hands” on every one of the numerous affairs that they manage.
They are not obliged to respond to every anonymous goad from every “agent provocateur” seeking to make generally tedious and specious observation from the benefit of anonymity.
Please rest assured that the moment there is proof of your having taken up permanent residence in the People’s Democratic Republic of Cuba – or anywhere at least 1000 miles from Sark, I am sure the donations will flood in.
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, maybe tedious and ultimately meaningless demands for irrelevant democratic accountability, is amongst the first; I expect Dr Johnson would agree..?
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Larky
Those that have been elected to represent the people are public servants. It’s high time some appreciate this fact.
Reasonable questions merit reasonable answers. It’s common knowledge the Seigneur is holding onto his position through little more than being empowered with the luxury of not being accountable to anybody.
The ordinary man & woman has no higher power. If they’re unhappy with the treatment dealt out by the present system then it’s tough luck. One is forced to grin & bear it or pay some very unpleasant consequences. These can range from dog faeces posted through their letter box late at night to whatever measures can be dreamt up & implemented to frustrate those who are deemed to be too vocal about their unjust treatment.
It’s not a nice prospect to be treated like a highly contagious leper in a very small community.
Even external law enforcement officers can’t investigate matters without his prior consent. That can’t be right. This gives those born into the position carte blanche to do as they pretty much please.
Is that kind of attitude democratic?
The Seigneur needs to be forthcoming with answers relating to let the people know what has been spent where & the reasoning behind why it was spent.
It’s common knowledge his cloak of silence is the only shield against much more serious matters that desperately need scrutiny & further attention.
Has he paid himself & his chosen few to administer funds?
Are funds being held wisely?
Can anybody other than the Seigneur himself answer me that?
I hope a fatality is not experienced before his meddling role is called into question.
He is so out of touch. Has been from day one. Much more so than ever now. With each year that passes he contradicts himself more & more. He now has departments he can pass the buck to. Very handy really.
I will be the first to pounce on him when suffering is experienced by another that could have been prevented with a more accommodating leader.
The end game is near. It just remains to be seen whether things are going to be settled diplomatically or unfortunate ugly events force the changes that always were going follow when modern thinking & common sense prevails.
For the record, I am very happy to remain where I am thank you.
If there’s a flood of donations to be had kindly split them between the RNLI & SJA.
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@Paul:
Did you apply and fail to be elected, I wonder? Indeed, the wonder would be if you /had/ been elected!
You talk as if the Seigneur has somehow usurped the rights of others, when the reality is quite the opposite. Sark’s community might not be sufficiently 21st Century for your taste, but then neither is the way Sark invites its people to act like grown ups who can wipe their own bottoms, and are happy to trade punitive taxation for robust self reliance. Presumably, it is your choice, and you can slope off back to some part of nanny Europe if you choose?
Or do you not believe in the rule of law and property rights when they don’t happen to suit your purpose? The history of Sark and its ownership is perfectly clear, but please don’t let the facts get in the way of the invective and polemic. Quite when the European Court of Rights provided the basis for justifying an act of confiscation that would bring a wry smile to Robert Mugabe escaped me; but many of the acts of the last UK Labour government had little to do with respect for anything but their own failed dogma, and their supporters’ lust for toff blood.
Your option remains perfectly obvious – find another community where your ideas of “democracy” resonate more loudly with the rest of the community. The fact that you were able to come to Sark and enjoy its unique lifestyle – which still just persists, thanks to the efforts over many years of those you decry – suggests that Sark needs to raise its game in terms of inbound immigration screening to something approaching the rigour of the rest of the World.
People may now be starting to wonder whether you might be obsessive and fanatical enough to go and try to undermine the cliff path to accelerate the consequences that would apparently have you jumping up and down and declaring “I told you so!”
Sadly, I can still see no reason to invite donations. You should consider that it is sufficient reward that your act of selfless beneficence in remaining means that you are still around to torment the cause of common sense and community that prevails on Sark.
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Larky
You are drunk on nostalgia. How sad. How can a democracy be classed as such when a single individual wields all the power to allow or deny all that’s placed before him?
Here is a simple scenario for you to consider.
If a child suffered from a life-threatening illness, meningitis, for argument’s sake, every resident would want the child to receive care as swiftly as humanly possible.
That is a no brainer.
Not the Seigneur though. He has made it clear in such circumstances he’d rather the child suffers.
How can anybody in their right mind have any respect for a mean & uncaring individual like this?
How life & death decisions like these can go unchallenged is way beyond my comprehension.
People don’t remain ignorant for ever.
You need to start seeing the bigger picture.
For far too long many have placed too much faith in a select few.
Sheep!
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@Paul
Sadly, nostalgia isn’t what it used to be. But I am a lot more concerned by the power and influence wielded by money which is used to threaten, intimidate and purchase the loyalty of a variety of weak minded souls who cannot make their own ways in a wicked world, but are happy to accept a bribe: just like most of the UK’s democratically elected House of Commons (although rather fewer not-so-democratically peers!) as so poignantly exposed by the organ owned and controlled by our close neighbours. Coincidentally, the very same den of democratically elected crooks that told Sark how to run it affairs.
Are your ravings about meningitis alluding to the availability of a “proper” ambulance and/or helipad? If so, I might just be forced to concede that the lengths to which the “no vehicles at any cost” policy have been taken, might just have edged beyond the defensible – especially in light of the strange tolerance of the daily island Tractor Grand Prix.
The Seigneur is an affable old bloke who rightly regards it as his duty to try and maintain the essential difference that causes Sark to be sought out as a something different from so much of a world that has been hoodwinked by a cabal of vociferous minorities who have hijacked and abused the term “democracy”, to promote an insidious minority agenda that is anything but “democratic”, for the past 60 years.
Are you chained to the railings at the top of Harbour Hill and thus unable to exercise your democratic right to depart? What prevents you from taking that enormous bleeding heart full of compassion to a more caring society that is willing to entertain your view of the world?
It’s a great pity that you are happy to remain a very small fish in a very small pond, when the big wide world could so plainly benefit from your perceptive skills and humanitarian empathy.
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Larky
Intoxicated on nostalgia. Happy to be herded & taken for a ramble once in a while.
How sweet.
Short sighted. See what you’re told to see.
Intent with existing whilst controlled by a paranoid peer desperate to keep things how they have always been for his own personal gain.
Suspicious of hidden agendas with all well intentioned offers made purely to protect a community that is growing & desperately in need.
Not everybody is comfortably pensioned off for your information.
Thankfully, you are the product of a tiny minority.
The majority want more.
Would worried parents want a medevac in an hour of need?
Would others be mean & uncaring enough to deny them that whilst the child’s life hung in the balance with every passing minute critical to the outcome?
Maybe it should be put to a vote?
How do you think those that pay his salary would tolerate him after such an event arose?
Foresight is what’s needed now. It shouldn’t take a fatality to question the motives of a stubborn few.
Open your eyes.
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@Paul
Y’know, it’s a bit of a miracle that Sark has survived since 1565 without your concern and input.
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Larky
I am touched by the fact I’m starting to win you over.
I can assume you won’t be in the line demanding I join PB Falla’s exodus then?
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Assume nothing.
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