Island 'laughing stock' over diving board red tape

Red tape around whether to remove a diving board at Guernsey's outdoor bathing pools is making the island a "laughing stock" according to a deputy.

Deputy Mark Helyar said a removal notice for the metre-high board, at La Vallette in St Peter Port, was not "proportionate" given that children were often seen "tombstoning off the castle emplacement into sea" nearby.

Helyar said he was "resigned to the fact" the diving board would still be removed despite a last-minute delay following public protests this weekend.

A spokesperson for Environment and Infrastructure (E&I) said it was "keen not to see a permanent closure" and would set up a small working party to "consider the issues".

Helyar also criticised a decision not to allow volunteers to move a large stone from the Ladies' Pool back into the sea because of health and safety concerns, calling it "the canary in coalmine".

"We don't need government involved in whether people can jump off a one-metre-high board," he said, adding: "My job to challenge this kind of thing."

Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, E&I president, said: "There has been some suggestion that licensing is a blocker to dredging the pool - this is not correct."

De Sausmarez said a licence was required for dredging, but it had "never proved to be a barrier previously, such as when the Ladies' Pool was renovated in 2022".

Adrian Sarchet, who organised the protest, said jumping off the diving board was a "unique part" of the island's culture.

Mr Sarchet, also known as the Sea Donkey, has previously raised money for the bathing pools by taking part in sponsored endurance swims.

He said "almost every child on the island" had been through the "trial" of jumping off the board helping them to understand risk in a "controlled environment", adding: "It's high when you are a child."

Organisers estimated between 300 and 400 people had attended the demonstration, which Mr Sarchet said showed the "joy" that the diving board had brought islanders over the years.

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