"Eyesore" fencing in St Catherine could be improved

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Ports of Jersey say they will try to improve the fences which have recently been installed at St Catherine, after islanders took to social media to voice their outrage, branding the installation as an "eyesore," "prison fencing" and "sad and ugly."

The fences were installed as a safety measure following a rock stability survey carried out at the beginning of the year.

While Ports of Jersey (PoJ) do not own the road, but they are responsible for the rock and the surrounding land. A spokesperson said: "The work currently taking place is to install safety fencing around the Gibraltar Rock at St Catherine’s. The work is being carried out as a result of a rock stability survey carried out earlier this year, which showed increased safety concerns of crumbling rock falling on to the public as well as a deterrent for people attempting to climb this unstable rock face."

Terry Le Main was one islander who has complained about the look of the fences wrote: "Many people just cannot believe anyone in their right mind would spoil and approve such wanton damage to such a natural area. Yes there was one across the road but not where there(sic) are placing this expensive prison fencing. With some imagination why did someone not plant a thicket of hawthorns alongside the road and around? No one would then get near the rock and it would be a haven for wildlife plus security but no, here we go again. Which bright individual agreed to this spoliation of a beautiful area. Quite unbelievable."

Other comments included words such as "horrendous," "eyesore," "terrible," "disgusting" or even "aberration." Graham Lumb noted: "I love going out there looks like a second La Moye horrid," while Paul Blampied wrote: "Is La Moye getting too small?" Others seemed to go even further by comparing the fences to Nazi installations. One man commented: "Looks like they are building a new prison camp. Looks like the Third Reich are back!" Another one added: "Talk about over-egging the pudding. Even the Germans didn’t put things like that up!" One man even asked: "Have we been occupied again ???"

Pictured: "Looks beautiful, please keep the orange barriers there too, just to round it off nicely," wrote one Islander on social media. (Photo: Terry Le Main)

PoJ have moved to reassure islanders that they will be taking feedback into account. A spokesperson added: "The fencing was taken from existing material already owned by Ports of Jersey that had been used for a previous safety protection project. Based upon feedback received to date Ports of Jersey is looking at improvements we may make in the aesthetics of the area.

"These include reviewing the placement of the fence line with a further risk assessment of falling debris, adjusting the materials used and future landscape options to determine if the fence can be better hidden from view, which may include the planting of gorse, which in time may grow to such an extent that the fence could be removed."

Lead photo: Terry Le Main