ON the St Helier side of St Aubin’s Harbour there is a muddy and decidedly undistinguished section of beach. It would be of little significance if it were not for the fact that it has been a place of conflict almost as often as that ‘little patch of land that hath in it no profit but the name’ disparagingly referred to in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Successive plans have been drawn up to transform this small corner of St Aubin’s Bay into something which the proponents of those plans say would be more useful. So far, the plans have been stoutly resisted by those who claim that any development would not be in the best interests of St Aubin as a community.

Opponents of reclamation in this area – many of whom live in St Aubin – have in the past proved immune to the argument that much-needed parking spaces would be provided by the right scheme. They have favoured the retention of what might be called a natural blot on the landscape rather than its replacement by anything more functional.

Now another set of ideas for the harbour corner has emerged – this time from BDK Architects and former Transport Minister Guy de Faye.

An artist’s impression of the development shows a landscaped area and prominent buildings, but the architects and Mr de Faye have also made it clear that their proposals are intended to challenge the draft Island Plan’s rejection of land reclamation as a means of disposing of inert solid waste.

As the potential developers suggest, this might well initiate public debate on this issue. However, much louder and far longer debate is likely to be occasioned by other features of the plan – notably the 600 underground parking spaces, the 100 flats and the offices and shops which, coyly, the potential developers failed to mention directly when their scheme was first made public.

St Aubin Coastal Park, the name chosen for the proposed development, has a pleasant ring to it. It is, however, most unlikely to resonate pleasantly for very long among the ranks of those who, in the past, have so emphatically resisted reclamation and new building at the edge of a village that they clearly love.

That said, times and attitudes change, so we shall just have to wait to see if BDK and Mr de Faye are able to win hearts and minds where others have so comprehensively failed in the past.