Leisure, heritage and placemaking

Improving the pedestrian experience

A key issue identified during the analysis was the poor pedestrian experience across both harbours.

St Sampson

In St Sampson, the main vehicular route severs access to the waterfront, and coupled with a noisy road and car parking on The Bridge, does not create a positive pedestrian environment. There is an opportunity to:

• Pedestrianise (parts of) The Bridge, introducing new restaurants and cafes and creating spill-out space.
• Create new public realm adjacent to the waterfront for people to sit, play and enjoy.
• Widen footpaths and introduce traffic calming measures, particularly on the north side of the
• Better link some of the existing assets via safe walking routes e.g. Mont Crevelt.

St Peter Port

St Peter Port also suffers the same severing main road in between the town and the water’s edge. Here, the complex combination of different users creates issues associated with connectivity, conflict and car parking. Opportunities include:

• Improve pedestrian links and crossing points between the town and the harbour area.
• There is a real opportunity to celebrate the transition from tight narrow winding street, opening out into wide harbour with expansive views, and visceral smells and sounds. Views out from the end of the harbours are often spectacular, but at the moment pedestrians need to battle their way to the end of congested piers, only to be met with no safe, attractive seating options.
• If new flood defences and breakwaters are needed, could a circular walking route around the perimeter create an attractive and convenient new loop, linking points of interest between Salerie Corner and Castle Pier?
• Consider proposals to more permanently reduce traffic on parts of North Esplanade, introducing new restaurants, cafes and spill-out spaces.

Celebrating the heritage and character of St Peter Port and St Sampson

Both harbours have different strengths and weaknesses, which give them both differing characters. There is a clear opportunity to better enhance and celebrate the existing positive contributors to this, including:

St Sampson

• Capitalise on the quaint nature of The Bridge, creating enhanced public realm/and more space to spend time. This may also mean celebrating the Bridge Frontage in the way it is
• Give Mont Crevelt some space to breathe around the perimeter, and provide better pedestrian routes to this from the harbour (including enhanced wayfinding and signage).
• Celebrating the existing heritage assets on the edges of the HAA e.g. Vale Castle, with better pedestrian links to this.

St Peter Port

• Major landmarks and local landmarks - such as the Harbour Cranes, Castle Cornet, and the Castle Breakwater Lighthouse - should be better celebrated with dedicated routes, enhanced wayfinding, and complemented with other leisure uses. Together with other local landmarks such as Salerie Corner, Prince Albert Statue, and the Model Yacht Pond etc, these could form part of a new ‘Heritage Trail’, for example.
• Special qualities of the medieval core of St Peter Port include its tight urban grain, and change in levels, which contrasts quite significantly with the open flat areas on the piers. This provides a strong edge of development along the Esplanades as they abut the harbour, and this contrast could be enhanced by creating new public realm associated with these uses.

Leisure, culture, and arts

Both harbours have significant existing assets, but also significant potential for more facilities. Whilst visitors and tourists play some role in shaping the leisure, culture and arts provision, these spaces should also excite and interest the local community. There are opportunities to:

• Protect successful existing businesses, and facilitate their enhancement/expansion.
• Encourage new informal activities and meanwhile uses on the piers e.g. temporary saunas; food markets.
• Make the most of the seaside location, creating space for sailing activities, bathing and other water-based activity.
• Introduce new marine-related leisure facilities, encouraging larger yachts.
• Focussing food and beverage options and restaurants and cafes in St Sampson to help enhance the evening economy.
• Look for opportunities for culture and arts around the harbours, such as an arts trail and allow space for high profile art installations and ideas.