From Geoffrey Hill.
MS Ransom compares her new art deco home to that controversially constructed by Rick Stein, which later became listed.

She uses words such as iconic and stunning. However, for many, the word ostentatious would be more accurate, as this building is obviously designed to stand out from its surroundings.

But the fault is not that of Ms Ransom. She is after all entitled to her own taste in things.
No, blame for this must squarely lay with Planning and Environment. They have totally failed to protect the coastline at Le Saie, and elsewhere.

Ms Ransom’s home could have used materials that would have blended easily with the coastline, had Planning so insisted.

But under the hand of Senator Cohen, the Island has endured a litany of development disasters. Portelet, with its own ‘iconic’ and ‘in your face’ horrors of the Holiday Village and Bergerac sites are prime examples of a complete failure to ensure sympathetic building on our coastline.

And, as so ably highlighted by Peter Double in his letter, having Planning and Environment under one controller is no less than an outrage. One is as good as a contradiction to the other, especially in the hands of some one who is obviously biased.

For while Environment urged volunteers to clear Portelet Common to ensure the survival of green lizards and grass snakes, Planning passed the clearance and development of the adventure playground at Les Ormes, a known habitat of these two species.

Like the outrageous industrial clearance at Portelet Common, and the subsequent erection of an institutional fence (at our expense of tens of thousands of pounds), these activities are done to facilitate private developers at the expense of the nature of our Island home.

As a footnote, the Portelet farago was made more insulting by the construction, again at our considerable expense, of a hedge of native trees on the Portelet House side of the fence, so the owner of Portelet House would not have to look at the prison-like enclosure created for him.

Until Planning and Environment are separated, we will see this imbalance between the mercenary aspect of Planning, and the protective nature of Environment.