AS this week’s public meeting so clearly demonstrated, many people would mourn the loss of the playing field at Millbrook not only as a sports amenity but also as a green open space if the site were developed as a retirement village. However, not all sporting facilities are equal – and the same can be said for green open spaces.
As a playing field, the Millbrook facility is at best old-fashioned and at worst outmoded, consisting only of the pitches and a set of very modest changing rooms. As a green space, the field qualifies principally on account of its colour, being neither scenic nor fully available to the general public. It is also hemmed in on one side by development and bordered on the other by the far more appealing Millbrook Park.
Taking these factors into account, the proposal to transform the playing field into a complex of up to 75 homes for Islanders aged over 55 has much to commend it – in spite of widespread local resistance to the plan. It is also quite possible that the idea would have found favour with Florence and Jesse Boot, the philanthropists responsible for providing the Island not only with the playing field but also with the adjacent park and incomparable Glass Church.
Moreover, the notion that the planned retirement village should be based on the philosophy of Joseph Rowntree, another philanthropist who understood how a form of community living can be of great benefit to people as they age, takes it well beyond the realm of a mere commercial proposition.
Indeed, this is emphasised by the involvement of a major service organisation, the Rotary Club, in the whole proposal and the plan to incorporate a brand new Good Companions Club into whatever might finally emerge.
Taking all these factors into account, the right development with the right facilities conforming to the highest design standards could actually enhance the playing field site.
That said, this year’s exceptional storms, the almost unprecedented damage to sea defences that the most extreme conditions occasioned only a short distance from the proposed village, severe flooding and the prospect of similar events in the future mean that those who are clearly so vehemently opposed to development are in a position to advance another argument in favour of the status quo.