Plans revealed for regeneration of St Peter Port

The States has revealed plans for the regeneration of areas of St Peter Port

Bike racks, public art and outdoor seating are some of the ideas put forward in regeneration plans for St Peter Port.

The Government wants to reduce traffic in town, and improve the area for pedestrians and cyclists.

It hopes private developers could step in to make some of the changes happen.

The areas subject to change in the development framework plan are Lower Pollet, South Esplanade, Mignot Plateau, Mansell Street and Le Bordage.

The plan sets out to improve active and sustainable travel options and create public spaces with multiple usages.

Deputies have been invited to attend a presentation on the framework this week.

President of Guernsey Bicycle Group, Phil Le Poidevin, said creating and enhancing pedestrian areas would improve St Peter Port.

He said: "It's especially important to keep people moving through town and walking from one point of the other, and being able to cycle in with a place to stop and move forward.

"Our bike racks in town are already bursting and availability is quite slim, but once you've got more infrastructure to cycle in and then the ability to park easily and close to where you want to be, I think it's going to work well."

Shop owner Nadia Newton

Nadia Newton, retailer and shop owner, said we should look to UK cities for inspiration.

She said: "It would be fantastic if we could rejuvenate this area, particularly down to Mill Street, and create something very similar to what they have in Brighton where they have The Lanes with a really thriving and dynamic scene with art and culture and small businesses.

"The parking situation does put a lot of people off - if they were going to park at the piers and then walk up to me here they're not even passing through a nice sort of area that they could do some shopping on the way."

After a year of consultations, these are the key suggestions made in the planning guidance:

Lower Pollett

• Different ways to improve the North Plantation

• Relocating the taxi rank to improve pedestrian safety

• Repaving areas and creating more seating areas

• Building a "sustainable urban drainage system"

South Esplanade and Mignot Plateau

• The "radical option" of traffic underground

• Pedestrian crossings and easier junctions

• More bike racks

• Transforming Castle Pier into a location for "public art"

Mansell Street and Le Bordage

• Turning Trinity Square into the gateway for the town centre from the south west

• Turning upper floors into residential housing

• Regular maintenance of cobbles on Mansell street for public safety

• Utilising Sir Charles Frossard House for public parking

Analysis by Political Reporter for BBC Guernsey John Fernandez

Guernsey's good at visions, strategies and masterplans.

What it's not been good at for at least the last decade, is meaningful investment in infrastructure.

This 'Development Framework' presents an opportunity for just that. An actual cash investment into the heart of the island to regenerate parts of Guernsey which were once landmarks.

The question now is whether this will become another one of those plans which sits on the shelf.

The head of planning Deputy Victoria Oliver says no, but with no sign of States spending on this scheme detailed yet and the coffers well and truly empty, the emphasis will be on encouraging the private sector that this is their chance to be part of shaping the future of the island's capital.

Head of planning, Victoria Oliver, said it was important to have the input of islanders regarding transport for the best improvements.

She said: "A lot of it depends on actually being able to follow through with the transport strategy and to not reduce any of the parking but to move some of it into better locations to help pedestrian flow through town.

"The consultation was really widely engaged with the public, they really actually got on board with a lot of them and some of the ideas within the development framework are actually from the public. I think that people really wanted to actually see change."

Follow BBC Guernsey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].