Alderney could hold emergency meeting about Braye marina

A deal to give Braye Harbour Developments exclusive rights to press ahead with the creation of a 250-berth marina is close to being finalised.

However, General Services Committee chairman Graham McKinley said that with the States not due to sit until next month, an emergency meeting could be needed to give the agreement the go-ahead.

Mr McKinley has received a revised final draft of the agreement from the Law Officers and said he was waiting for a General Services Committee sub-group, comprising States members and representatives of the island’s Chamber of Commerce, to approve it, after which it will go to the States.

‘The Chamber of Commerce, which probably represents about 500 people in the island, are strongly in support of that marina option,’ he said.

The deal will see Braye Harbour Developments given exclusivity for one year to progress plans to build a marina to the east of Braye Bay, by the Arsenal.

No money is being sought from the States for the project, the cost of which the developers say will be recouped from their investing £25m. in new buildings, including at least 30 new homes.

However, the States will be looking to spend something, said Mr McKinley.

‘We will contribute some money, obviously, because we will introduce a process manager who will be our contact point.’

The developers also intend to create public facilities at the new marina, such as a chandlery, small grocery store, a restaurant and a cycle hire outlet.

The idea of a new Alderney marina has a long history.

‘This has been going on for over 40 years that I am aware of,’ said Mr McKinley.

‘The trouble is, every time someone comes up with a plan for a marina, someone else comes up with an alternate plan and the whole thing goes upside down.’

Braye Harbour Developments was initially involved in plans to create a marina in 2012, but after two years the island’s Policy Committee ended its partnership with the company, saying that the plans were not robust enough.

Now, however, Policy & Finance has given its support to the project and invited the developers to come up with detailed proposals.

Plans for a remote question-and-answer session with the developers in the Island Hall were postponed from 21 July and Mr McKinley said this was due to technical issues.

He said the first thing he wants to do when the Bailiwick opens its borders again is to have this meeting.

But he hopes that the States will be able to approve the one-year deal soon, even though its next meeting is not scheduled until next month.

‘I’m suggesting that either we send out an email to all States members for them to say “yes, please” or “no, thank you”, or have an emergency meeting and we can deal with this one subject,’ he said.