Inspections of Guernsey's coastal defences met with concern by seafront business owners

Work began today (18 November) to inspect coastal defences along Guernsey's coast. Credit: ITV Channel

Inspections of Guernsey's sea defences began today (Monday 18 November) with a view to allocating a budget for future maintenance plans.

The condition of eight coastal sites - the Imperial Slipway, Fort Grey, Rocquaine, Grand Port, l'Eree, Perelle, Cobo, and Pembroke - will be examined over the course of the next month.

Simon Allum, owner of Pinquays bar, has struggled with flooding in his establishments over the past couple of years. Credit: Simon Allum

However, some islanders fear the inspections are not being done in the correct places.

Simon Allum, owner of Pinquay's Bar on St Peter Port's seafront, argues that not enough is being done to adequately protect local businesses against floods and high tides in town.

Businesses in Guernsey's harbour area are often vulnerable to flooding during periods of bad weather or exceptionally high tides.

Simon has had to invest in 'floodgates' to protect his bar: but these don't always work.

He is calling for the States to invest in coastal defences in town.

He says: "I just think it's not going away as a problem. For the sake of a small granite wall, maybe a foot high. Tides come to ten meters, maybe 10.5 so you'd only have to go up a meter to stop the water coming over."

A hole in the sea wall at Perelle has recently been repaired. Credit: ITV Channel

Marco Tesigni, States of Guernsey Infrastructure Officer, says the inspections are targeted at sites where the States can act proactively against erosion in the future.

The West Coast sites are considered to be important ones that provide direct protection to the land behind them from coastal flooding.

Some of these sites have already had to have maintenance carried out: such as at Perelle, where the crumbling sea wall has recently been repaired.

He adds: "It's all about priority and money only goes so far. We have to prioritise with the funds that we've got. These are areas that we feel - and the engineers who have the technical knowledge feel - we should prioritise now."

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