FOR the past ten years the headland at Plémont has been blighted by the decaying remnants of what was once Pontin’s holiday camp.

Moreover, even when the place was fully active and thronging with happy campers, the complex did absolutely nothing to enhance the natural beauty of its cliff-top location. Its ugly, box-like accommodation blocks were at best a counterpoint to the surrounding landscape.

The present owners of the site cannot be blamed for wanting to redevelop the site and to secure a satisfactory return on their hefty investment in an expensive plot of land. That said, their determination to see buildings of one sort or another replacing the derelict camp is one of the principal reasons why the area has remained in limbo for the past decade.

Now we learn that thanks to a favourable recommendation from a planning officer, the owners and potential developers are closer to seeing their hopes for the site being realised.

This is an extraordinary new phase in the saga for a number of reasons – not the least of which is the nature of the accommodation and ancillary buildings that are now on the table. It can be argued that if planning permission is granted for the 73 tourist chalets in the latest proposal, the old holiday camp will be resurrected rather than replaced.

Meanwhile, if the chalet project goes ahead, a great many Islanders will be wondering why it was deemed acceptable when a previous scheme which involved only 36 units of accommodation was felt to be unsuitable for the site and incommensurate with its green zone status.

Most importantly, a decision of the States, lobbying at parish level and a 10,300-
signature petition demonstrate that far from wanting to see the old camp redeveloped in any way, many people favour returning the area to nature. They would, with good reason, argue that the merits of securing this open space for the benefit of the Island as a whole outweigh the right of developers to make maximum profit on their speculative acquisition.

This weekend the Line in the Sand event will encourage Islanders to show that our coastline should be seen as a special part of the environment that must not be spoiled by excessive and inappropriate development. Plémont and its future can easily be held up as a test case which will establish whether our planning authorities are in sympathy with the widely held view that our prime coastal sites are too precious to be treated as mere real estate.