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Work is now being done to drop the height of a controversial safety fence at St Catherine, which has been described as "prison-like," after the Port of Jersey accepted they got it wrong.
Ports Chief Executive Doug Bannister said they "could have done better" on this project, which was supposed to protect islanders from falling rock - but ended up drawing allegations of ruining a local beauty spot.
Once the row broke, Environment Minister Deputy Steve Luce published an open letter, urging bodies such as the Ports of Jersey to do more to look after the "public realm."
The controversy has now led Mr Bannister to issue a statement accepting that mistakes had been made with the fence around Gibraltar rock:
"We have a dangerous area liable to potential falling rock, and we need to protect the public and property safety. Existing warning measures were not working adequately, and we had fencing in our stores for airport usage. While performing a site inspection for pre-planning the installation, it was determined that should rock fall from the top we would need to construct a fence fairly close to the road in order to provide adequate safety measures.
"Having received feedback and speaking with the Connétable, we are now adjusting the fence by reducing its overall height and considering appropriate landscaping to conceal it as best we can while still meeting our public safety requirements. In time, we hope that the landscaping will enable us to remove the fence while ensuring the continued safety measures remain.
"However, I concur that these actions should have been considered prior to the course of action we undertook, rather than afterwards. I look forward to working with the Minister next year in developing an improved approach. I know we won’t always get it right, but we will get better.”
A Ports spokesman added that the work being done will involve removal of the top overhang, and approximately 1 foot from the fence itself.
The issue was first raised in a Facebook post, from a former politician, Terry Le Main.
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