New Vale nature reserve to be discussed with Douzaine

This follows a more than 30-year wait for the trust to regain access to the property at Mont Cuet headland which it was generously gifted in 1972 – only for the then States Board of Administration to ask to use it as an emergency landfill site for the island's rubbish.

Now, after extensive negotiations and legal issues to resolve, the trust has finally secured the conveyance of the land and can turn its attention to the future management of Crève Cœur.

The good news, a culmination of intense effort by many past and present members of the National Trust, was announced by its  president, Mike Brown, who is a Vale ratepayer and St Sampson's resident.

For the Trust, the wait has had something of an unexpected benefit. It has provided an opportunity to acquire more land bordering the initial seven-vergee gift. And because the former tip has been fenced off, it has gradually developed into a haven for wildlife. Ground-nesting birds have established themselves, while various species of hawks and owls are also found in the area because of an abundance there of voles.

Reserve
When Crève Cœur was last featured on this website in 2023 – the link is here – the hope was that the area would become a new nature reserve in the north of the island.

That may still happen, but the Trust now has to balance public access against protecting what is a very rare environment in the island – one that's been untouched for 30 years.

Mr Brown said he'd like to involve the Vale Douzaine, along with other interested parties, in the Trust's discussions about how best to manage the site for future generations while also possibly allowing some public access. What may have seemed appropriate thirty years ago may no longer be the best approach today.

'Our priority will be to develop a thoughtful, sustainable plan that respects the wildlife already flourishing on the site, responds to today's environmental challenges and secures the best possible outcome for the Island and generations to come," said Mr Brown.

• The history of the National Trust's acquisition of Crève Cœur can be found here.