Sark Vineyards 'never viable from the start'

But Policy & Finance committee chairman Charles Maitland acknowledged that not all of the land which was converted to vineyards was being used to its full potential before the start of the project.

It comes after Sark Vineyards Ltd announced it was closing down with the potential loss of 25 jobs because of actions by the government, citing tax on alcohol production and impending changes to land tax.

Chief Pleas has since refuted this claim.

Charles Maitland, the chairman of the island's Policy & Performance Committee, said his opinion was that the business was never a viable plan from the start.

'Vines have no history in Sark,' he said.

'I think they had done well in one, sheltered, bit of the island, but so much of Sark is too windswept to have planted an enormous amount of vines without testing.

'It was an enormous investment, but when people have too much money I suppose they embark on these things without looking at what may happen – it is unfair that Sark, and the government, gets the blame.'

Mr Maitland added that the law they have introduced, which involves legislation on alcohol production and sales, was implemented to cover the island in case any kind of alcohol production took place there.

One of Mr Maitland's main issues was the size of the operation.

He said if the scale of the project was not at so large, he would have been 'happy with it'.

'If Guernsey was suddenly covered in vineyards, people would know how we felt, and I am sure you would protest about it too,' he said.

'If it has been researched properly and worked out then it could have made some really good wine – but not on such a large scale.

'In that case I would have been very happy with it.'

Mr Maitland conceded that many of the fields used by the vineyards were formerly disused and empty. However, he was adamant they all had the potential to be useful for farmers and their livestock.

He also acknowledged some of the benefits of the business.

'One good thing about the vineyards was the employment they gave people in the winter,' he said.

'I feel very sorry for those people who suddenly lost their jobs, but you can't possibly blame it on the government.'

The Sark Newspaper has reported that the next stage of the operation would have been to construct an £8m. winery.

Another £3.5m. was to be spent on dry stone granite walls to trap the sun's warmth around the vines, it said.

These projects would have generated £1.5m. over the next 36 months for Isle of Sark Shipping, the Sark Newspaper added.

Also lost will be £450,000 a year in power consumption and more to transport the wine out of the island, it said.