'We have had to apologise for town scaffolding'

Guernsey tour guides say they have had to apologise to tourists visiting the island for the amount of scaffolding on buildings in St Peter Port.

Chair of the Guild of Guides Ken Wheeler said parts of town were looking "less than their best" with multiple building and attraction facades covered in scaffolding.

He said there was "very little point in trying to reroute" tours and guides have had to "apologise for the way things look".

Traffic and Highways said checks were being made to understand which scaffolding still remains in St Peter Port ahead of a deadline for its removal before the summer season on 1 May.

Wheeler said: "We use the word attraction in many different ways, when you attract people, they are seeing something visually beautiful.

"You get only one chance to make a first impression. If you come off the town church under scaffolding, you walk into the high street and you see three lots of scaffolding.

"You cannot avoid it, there is very little point in trying to reroute.

"You simply have to, and we don't like doing this, but we have to apologise for the way things look."

While acknowledging that scaffolding is sometimes unavoidable, he said the clustering of projects during the tourist season was the main problem.

He suggested simple measures such as decorative hoardings to improve the visual impact.

Current regulations discourage the use of scaffolding in the town centre between 1 May and 15 September to reduce disruption during the peak visitor season.

Diane Mitchell, Senior Constable for St Peter Port, said the parish had no direct powers over when scaffolding is erected or removed, with responsibility sitting with States departments such as Traffic and Highways.

She said the current situation was "horrendous" and created accessibility problems and gave a poor impression of the town to both visitors and locals.

Laura Oxburgh head of On-Island Travel and Transport Implementation for the States of Guernsey said applications for scaffolding do not require a schedule for the building or maintenance works.

She said any scaffolding which needs to remain in place of be erected during the summer season must provide "sufficient and robust evidence" for their need.

"Where it has been noted that scaffold remains in place with expired permissions, scaffolders and property owners are contacted," she said.

"With 1 May approaching, checks are being done in the centre of town to understand which scaffolding still remains in the lead up to the embargo period and where permissions are about to expire."

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