Plan to move Longbeach play area "unlikely to happen"

Thursday 01 April 2021

A plan to move a popular play area at Longbeach is likely to be shelved after the proposal met with strong opposition.

In January, the parish Constable and Grouville landowners – known as tenants – suggested closing the sandy park and rebuilding a new play area at the other end of the car park, in between Fort William and where the ice cream van parks.

Islanders were asked to share their views with the Infrastructure Department, which maintains the play area – and the move was met with strong opposition. 

Grouville Constable John Le Maistre said: “It is unlikely to happen due to the adverse public reaction, which was pretty overwhelming in favour of the park staying where it is.

“I feel sorry for the residents, who complained about noise and anti-social behaviour there. It wasn’t a problem with during the day; it was teenagers who were staying there, sometimes until midnight.

Pictured: The sandy play area is at the northern end of Longbeach car park.

“I am involved through the tenants, who were looking at providing a solution, but the park itself is managed by Infrastructure, and I know they are looking at introducing closing times to help deal with anti-social behaviour."

A Government spokesperson said that the plans to move the park were on hold, pending a full public consultation which will give Infrastructure a clear idea of what the public want. 

She added that the department had been asked by the police to look at declaring ‘closing times’ for various areas covered by the Policing of Parks Regulations so that they can deal with anti-social behaviour if they need to. 

This power was used last July to stop people holding parties at Portelet Common. Then, the police closed the area between 21:00 and 05:00 and threatened fines of up to £1,000 for people found there during those times.