Jersey residents protest against converting La Pulente site into accommodation

Protesters formed a chain to make a 'line in the sand', akin to when thousands of islanders gathered 15 years ago at La Pulente to save the site. Credit: ITV Channel

Hundreds of protestors have gathered at a former Jersey beach restaurant to demonstrate against proposals to convert it into self-catering tourist accommodation.

The demonstration on Sunday 28 July involved more than 200 residents, who want the site to be kept open as a catering facility for the public to enjoy.

The land, including the La Pulente public toilet block, was sold by Jersey's government for £100,000 in 2014, but is now up for sale for £2.2m.

Protesters said that their main concerns was the overdevelopment of the coastline and losing community spaces. Credit: ITV Channel

Former tenants, Nude Dunes, went out of business in November 2023, shortly after opening in June 2023.

Estate agent Jeremy Le Rossignol said in response to the protestors: "My estate agency has been exclusively instructed to find a buyer.

"It's an incredibly sad and desperate situation affecting all involved and my client is now trying to maximise the potential of securing a buyer by applying for summer let as a possible additional income stream to make it more marketable to a potential new owner in the absence of any buyers to date."

He added: "Categorically there are no intentions by the current owner to obtain planning permission for a house in the future."

However, campaigners still feel turning the site into self-catering accommodation would create a "slippery slope" for the restaurant to become a private home, similar to what has already happened at coastal areas, such as Bouley Bay and Ouaisne.

One protestor said: "Everybody loves the coastline over here and you can't just treat it like a commodity to build wherever you want to build.

"This coastline should be preserved for everybody in Jersey and future generations."

Deputy Montfort Tadier, who organised the demonstration, told ITV News: "There has been concern over a number of years about the way that some areas of coastline have been going.

"We've seen some examples of what I would call over-development or changes of use which people haven't been happy with.

"In 2009, there was a line in the sand here and I think it's important to restate that commitment to our natural heritage."

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