Deputies unhappy to be in dark on sea links plan
THE decision not to share PwC’s report on sea links with members of the States came in for criticism during yesterday’s meeting.
As on the previous day, there was little discussion on the proposals to look into a contingency solution for the island’s sea links, and it was approved by 30 votes to six.
‘As a matter of principle’ the PwC report should have been shared with the States, even in a redacted form, said Deputy Chris Green, who was disappointed he had not been able to see it.
Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq said he was not surprised at the lack of debate on the sea links issue, and in his view this was where the investment should be since the island would always be reliant on the sea.
Deputy Jennifer Merrett said it was not made clear if any report would come back to the Assembly if it approved £400,000 for this work.
In summing up later, Policy & Resources vice-president Deputy Lyndon Trott said this would be ‘as soon as practical’.
‘I do not think this amount of money is a proper use of funds,’ said Deputy Dawn Tindall.
The proposition had the support of Deputy Heidi Soulsby: ‘We’ve been going on and on about a runway but it seems to me the greatest risk we face is losing our sea links,’ she said.
Guernsey should not be afraid of looking to ‘go it alone’ on sea connections, said Deputy John Gollop, rather than teaming up with Jersey if contingency plans needed to be enacted.
‘We would not exist as an island without a robust, permanent and affordable sea link for freight,’ he added, saying that in his opinion sea links were the most important of the items under discussion.
This had the agreement of Deputy Jan Kuttelwascher, who said he was somewhat concerned about the notion of the island ‘going it alone’, since it would take two to three years to deliver because of the harbour’s restricted size affecting the vessels it can accommodate.
