Plan to reroute coastal path amid cliff erosion risk

Plans to re-route a cliff path along a sea wall amid sea damage and erosion risk are progressing, a senior politician has said.

Guernsey's Environment and Infrastructure Committee (E&I) President Adrian Gabriel said staff had been "in consultation" with landowners around the Fermain wall for two years in the lead-up to the publication of a new work plan.

He said the sea wall - a costal feature which stops the cliff falling into the sea, which was subject to a sea breach a decade ago - was at risk of becoming "impassable".

Gabriel added there was "nothing to be immediately worried about", maintaining the path was still accessible.

The work plan outlined an "agreement in principle" to re-route the cliff path to a new alignment.

It cites the preferred approach as buying the necessary rights of way or land for a new path to be constructed.

It said other options, including stabilising the cliff face or rebuilding the breached wall, had been assessed as "high cost and logistically challenging", while failing to address underlying erosion risk in a "cost-effective way".

Gabriel said assessments would be needed to re-route the path, which he said was "on the side of a cliff which has got soft vegetation and soft ground".

He said: "There is a risk - as there is a risk of doing anything on this island.

"Because we are a public body, we have to make sure that this is well managed.

He said this meant "re-profiling" the cliff.

"That wall is not a sea wall which protects the land from the sea, it's pretty much the other way round - it stops the cliff falling into the sea.

"That's what happened eight to 10 years ago," he said.

He added he did not want to "set hares running" on what future works may entail for nearby land and homeowners, with whom he said the committee had been in consultation for two years.

The E&I budget for 2026 was £17,393,000 and Gabriel has said previously he had submitted a budget to the Policy and Rescources Committee (P&R) which followed the States' resolution to find a 1% cut from cash limits in the 2026 budget.

In relation to the work plan, he said they were "stripping everything back" due to a tight budget, while "assessing what is a priority" and getting the "best value for money from suppliers".

Other projects within the work plan include flood defences at St Sampson's Harbour and a combined animal and clinical waste incinerator.

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