Thank you everyone who has contributed!

We have listed all the comments received both during the public consultation meeting and from the questionnaires submitted afterwards. There are over 100 comments and we have organised them into categories of similar items. We are endeavouring to take as many of the comments into consideration in the preparation of the final proposal for managing Fort Field.

   Category                                  Item

Amenity	The only success this project has achieved is to have removed a valuable local amenity
Amenity	Thank you for everything you are trying to do to enhance the area which is increasing pollinators and public enjoyment of the area
Amenity	The current wildflower meadow is unsuitable as the loss of amenity to the public is too great
Amenity	Cut the whole area (right up to the Fort george boundary) and turn it back into an area where people can play ball games and have picnics
Amenity	Cut wider paths through the meadow so pushchairs can go through, thus engaging small children
Amenity	A couple of car parking spaces for the elderly or disabled near the area so they can see the patch without having to walk too far.
Amenity	Beehives
Amenity – dogs	Are we going to ban dogs?
Amenity – dogs	Create a separate dog only track although tricky in practice
Amenity – dogs	I think this area is too popular with the public for dog walking to be anything else but mown grass
Amenity – dogs	Don’t sow grass seeds, hooks dogs
Amenity – seating	Install rubbish bins to encourage people not to litter
Amenity – seating	Not enough places to sit
Amenity – seating	Maintain mowed access to seating areas
Amenity – seating	Put a chair or bench in the middle of the meadow
Amenity – seating	Install a picnic bench
Appearance	This and other areas have encouraged people to allow weeds to grow all over the island
Appearance	Maintain more wavy edges rather than straight lines
Appearance	Visitors regularly comment negatively about the state of the area, it is known locally as ‘the weed patches’
Appearance	Make the wildflower patch into different shapes (circles, triangles, squares) to encourage people to ask themselves ‘what is that?’
Appearance	Looks like a weed patch
Appearance	The States have created an eyesore by saving money
Appearance	I like the wiggly mown paths through the meadow
Appearance	Remove unsightly weeds and replace with colourful wild flowers like Les Cotils
Appearance	Add more annuals/cultivate the ground and leave some for perennials/biennials perhaps in some sort of rotation to help improve biodiversity
Appearance	Riddled with thistle
Appearance	Planting in regimented squares is not attractive
Appearance	Mowed labyrinth
Appearance – colour	Key is management to encourage ongoing colour
Appearance – colour	It would be nice to have more colour and, perhaps, attract wedding parties etc to have photographs taken there as with Les Cotils
Appearance – colour	Adapt pictorial meadows but only with natives
Appearance – colour	There should be winter colour that is also good for pollinators
Appearance – colour	Plant the verge with colourful meadow native wildflowers
Appearance – colour	Ask people to provide seed they have collected and create a colourful pollinator patch
Appearance – colour	Would love to see a sea of poppies, bright colours not the dismal colours we see now
Appearance – colour	The field has been depressing the last few years, if it can’t be colourful the it should go back to mown grass
Appearance – colour	Plant some colourful native plug plants such as red campion, which could be puchased from Grow Ltd
Appearance – colour	More varied flora please
Appearance – colour	Why no cosmos, nigella and cornflowers?
Appearance – trees	Community space would be lovely and fruit trees for people to help themselves in years to come would be a cool legacy
Appearance – trees	Existing trees should be retained if possible
Appearance – trees	More trees
Appearance – trees	Trees shouldn’t be planted formally or in straight lines
Appearance – trees	A community edible forest would be a really welcome addition as well as native hedging
Appearance – trees	Trees would be great with mown grass underneath
Appearance – trees	Plant an avenue of fruit trees and encourage the public to pick the fruit
Appearance – trees	More trees please. They are better habitat and need less regular maintenance. I’m not sure which species is better ,obvs needs to be resilient to future climates
Appearance – trees	Love the wildflower meadows but want more native trees
Appearance – trees	Native broadleaf trees with pockets of wildflowers between
Appearance – trees	No trees needed, prioritise pollinators
Biodiversity	1 in 4 tourists visit Guernsey for the nature and wildlife and they like Fort Field
Biodiversity	Ensure the area has plants for catepillars’ for food
Biodiversity	The most beneficial option for pollinators is native wildflowers
Biodiversity	Love the natural area, good for wellbeing and tourism
Biodiversity	The States of Guernsey Environment & Infrastructure committee prefers native wildflower meadows and maybe the Pollinator Project should take on other areas
Biodiversity	No non-natives, remove coarse plants like thistles to encourage grasses, spread meadow hay  next year continuing to remove coarse plants
Biodiversity	If blue plants are required then sow native Field Scabious, a source of seed for this now extinct plant is available
Biodiversity	Create log piles for wildlife
Biodiversity	A regularly mown, clippings removed, shorter grass area would ensure flowers for pollinators from April to September, good for solitary bee nesting and grasshoppers
Biodiversity	An area of typical cornfield weeds, ploughed annually to maintain the annual mix, would provide an import food source and habitat for the period after the meadow has been cut
Biodiversity	Keep it as natural as possible, Hawthorn or similar varieties for the native hedging would attract bees, butterflies etc
Cost	Pictorial meadows cost a lot of money and require extensive annual maintenance
Cost	Employing private contractors is much more expensive than using States Works
Cost	Regular mowing is cheaper and quicker than mowing paths and cutting wildflowers twice each year
Engagement	Get children and adults involved in practical work at Fort Field
Engagement	Pollinator Project expects another public consultation in three years from now
Engagement	Some people think a pictorial meadow is the best option but have heard the soil is too good, if this is true then the public need to be advised
Engagement	Commission a wildlife photographer to photgraph it each month
Engagement	People are making their gardens more wildlife friendly now with all the awareness raised
Engagement	Yes to the meadow making sure that people know it is being looked after and not just left
Engagement – information	Install information boards about what insects each plant will support
Engagement – information	Install ‘regular sightings’ boards for people to write on themselves
Engagement – information	A bee and butterfly hunt sheet through the Facebook page with info area, insects and plant
Engagement – information	Publicity, education and signage can help soften the irate but the state should take the lead in promoting the management of available areas for wildlife
Engagement – information	Why mowed down in height of summer?
Engagement – information	Shocked by mowing
Engagement – information	Surprised to see it mown, insects destroyed
Engagement – information	Artistic education panels about local wildflowers/insects
Engagement – seed sowing	Encourage volunteers to sow seed collected by Raymond Evison
Engagement – seed sowing	Sell wildflower seeds in local shops and encourage people to buy and sow them
High level plan	Leave the back part under the hedges that border Fort George wild
High level plan	Reducing the wildflower area would allow more time to maintain native hedging and a tree lined avenue
High level plan	Wildflower meadow not in the right place, should be closer to fruit and vegetable plants
High level plan	Reduce wildflower patch by making it from the large tree to Morley Chapel and let people use the resultant grass area for picnics, play games and watch the horses
High level plan	Move the wildflower meadow to the back of the field, plant a nativce hedge along the roadside to create a barrier and make the area safer for children, a decent play area for children would be good
High level plan	Could the native hedge run along the Fort Road verge to create a screen?
High level plan	Make formal gardens like Candie
High level plan	It should be cut neatly
High level plan	Native hedge would/might impact Fort George properties
High level plan	Halve the area and restrict it to just that area in front of the horse riding stables
High level plan	Any changes should be restricted to the tree area (between transverse path and Fort George)
High level plan	Make the wildflower patch smaller, not in front of houses, say from large tree to Morley Chapel
High level plan	I like the field as it is now, with sections of wildflowers, no more or less is required
High level plan	Build houses
High level plan	Keep it like that and ask for more areas
High level plan	Fantastic project
High level plan	Suggest a nature trail with bird/bat boxes and insect houses
Maintenance	Why wasn’t the 2017 meadow maintained?
Maintenance	Getting States manual workers trained to do what is required takes time
Maintenance	Given current poor maintenance a native hedge is unlikely to be maintained and could result in impenetrable brambles along Rue de la Douzaine property boundaries
SLA	Concern about what happens when it is handed back to the States
SLA	Project should be 4-5 years and more than one political term to ensure carry over
SLA	Let’s see what we can do in 3 years!
SLA	Needs a long term plan