Plémont - site clear and open to public from today

Friday 15 May 2015

It involved a protracted legal and political battle, years of campaigning and £3.5m of taxpayers' money but the Plémont headland has finally been cleared and is now open to the public.

Today, workmen who have demolished the former Pontin's holiday camp left the site for the final time, leaving a headland that the National Trust of Jersey, which owns the area, hopes will be a magnet for flora, fauna and people for generations to come.

"Finally I can say that after 14 years of campaigning, we have achieved the perfect result - Plémont is open for business," said Christopher Harris, president of the National Trust for Jersey. "I urge the public to go and explore. I particularly recommend a viewing point that we have created along a new path that must offer one of the most beautiful views in Jersey. The Island has its fair share of beauty spots but this is a new one which must rank up there with the finest.

"Returning Plémont to nature is a significant achievement. It is important not just for the Island but nationally and on a European scale. It will get Jersey noticed, very much for the right reasons."

As well as overseeing the clearing of the site, the National Trust has also built a play area for toddlers and 17 extra parking spaces. A large area remains fenced off for grass to grow and, in time, the trust hopes to restore the traditional field pattern, established in the Middle Ages.

The National Trust was able to buy the former holiday camp after the States agreed to provide half of the money needed to buy the derelict site from its previous owner, Trevor Hemmings, whose company had previously applied to build 28 houses on the headland. States Members gave £3.5m, provided by the proceeds of crime, and the National Trust raised the same amount through donations. It also spent more money clearing and restoring the site.