Economy dominates Chamber's AGM

CONCERNS over the economy, Aurigny and tourism were aired at this week's Alderney Chamber of Commerce AGM.

President Andrew Eggleston (pictured) – who was re-elected to serve for a sixth year – opened the meeting by saying the body had made significant progress recently and it was important that its strong links with the States continued.

Andrew, who runs estate agent Bell & Co, went on to say that the country's property market was affecting sales in Alderney.

'People aren't coming to live here at the moment because of the dire state of the English housing market. People can't sell their own house or get a loan,' he said.

'We all rely on people moving here from the mainland and when that market struggles, it has a knock-on effect here.'

Members went on to discuss Aurigny, the island's main airline.

Internet businessman Nigel Roberts said: 'Some people need to book flights a couple of hours before, but that isn't possible here and it isn't acceptable to the business community we're trying to attract. Even if you can book a flight out, you won't be able to come back.

'The problems with Aurigny started when it moved from being an inter-island airline to a regional one that seems intent on becoming a Flybe clone.'

Bob McCulloch, of e-gaming business Virtue Fusion, said some of the flight times were 'ridiculous'.

'You can be sat in Guernsey Airport for hours at a time,' he said.

Hotelier Steve Collins said tourism was suffering due to a lack of Trislanders.

'It's impossible at the moment for every hotel and guest house etc. to be full because it is impossible to get that many people on and off the island with just five planes. The statistics show that.'

States member Paul Arditti reiterated his view that Alderney should take over Aurigny's Trislanders.

'I fully understand the criticisms of Aurigny and the solution, in my view, is to get Guernsey to release the Trislanders to Alderney,' he said.

'We could employ staff to run them and use the surpluses to lower fares. We need to break up Aurigny and let Guernsey do what they want to do, which is sell the ATRs and the Gatwick slots.'

Several members agreed that steps needed to be taken to find out exactly how many genuine tourists visited the island.

'In every hotel in the world you fill in a form saying where you're from and what you're doing,' said the chamber's vice-president, Tony Le Blanc. 'The States just doesn't appear to have grasped the nettle.'

Mr Eggleston said: 'We've been asking the States about this for a long time but have hit a brick wall every time.'

Concerns were also raised over the costs of aviation fuel and diesel at the harbour. Ilona Soane-Sands suggested powerboats were bypassing the island in order to fill up in Guernsey or Jersey, as prices there were significantly lower.

'Our fuel is 40p more than Jersey and 30p more than Guernsey,' she said. 'We should be the first port of call for powerboats from the south coast, but they're now going straight to Guernsey because the fuel's cheaper.

'These people used to fill up here and have lunch in the island, but they're not doing that any more. Even people in Alderney are filling up in Jersey, as the low cost of fuel pays for the round trip.'

Plans were made to set up meetings with the States and Aurigny to discuss the issues raised.