Friday 03 February 2012
Environment Department response to media enquiry from BBC Radio Guernsey
Enquiry:
Please can I ask the Environment Department what they know about a big sand dune forming at L'Ancresse?
Response:
The blown sand which is banked high up the old anti-tank wall at L'Ancresse/ Pembroke is the natural result of the recent northerly winds. There is also a small bank of sand, which has accumulated at the eastern end of the car park near the Beach House café. The wall was erected during the Occupation but prior to that, the entire bay was bounded by grassy sand dunes which formed the coastal defence. Perhaps few people will remember the bay when it was bounded by dunes but this was how the Common was protected from the sea before the wall was built and the Environment Department's Consultants advise that, given the opportunity, the dune defence would form again. It is unusual for us to see the sand banked up in this way but this is how L'Ancresse Common and the grassy dunes around Port Soif and Grande Rocques were formed over thousands of years.
Contact Information:
Environmental Services Unit
Environment Department
Tel: 717200
