WATCH: Preferred harbour redevelopment idea comes with £360m. price tag
A FULL review of the island's harbour requirements has revealed that the 'best option' would cost £350m.
Following a Requete in 2019, the States' Trading Supervisory Board was tasked with reviewing the island's harbour requirements. For several years now it has been agreed that facilities were no longer adequate for the demand of leisure and commercial boatowners.
A policy letter will be submitted to the States next month for debate.
It will have details of the surveys that have been carried out as part of the review and outline the seven combinations of options that could be taken forward.
Option one was to 'do nothing', but it would still require essential repairs to be carried out costing £37m.
The most dramatic option was option seven; extending St Peter Port Harbour to the east and constructing a new northern port for some freight and fuel. But this was estimated to cost £706m.
Option five is being proposed as the best option, meeting the majority of requirements and costing £361m.
This would see all commercial port activity is moved away from St Sampson’s Harbour to a new facility south of the Longue Hougue land reclamation site. That would leave the current harbour to focus on providing facilities for leisure boating.
Areas currently used for freight operations along Southside, St Sampson, and Northside, Vale, would also be freed up for development.
Passenger services would remain at St Peter Port, along with all roll-on, roll-off freight. However the main harbour cranes would be relocated to the new port, along with all lift on, lift off cargo operations, and the current harbour would be reconfigured.
This would include a new passenger terminal on North Beach. An underground car park at the weighbridge roundabout end would replace any current spaces being lost, and could potentially relocate parking away from other parts of Town. Other areas around the White Rock currently used for port operations would be freed up for other uses.
There are also plans to improve leisure marine facilities, to attract more visitors and expand the island's Blue Economy business.
The location of the proposed new port, Longue Hougue South, has previously been identified by the States as a potential land reclamation site. This would involve building of an outer breakwater, to enclose an area that can be infilled using inert waste materials from the construction and demolition industry.
The construction of a new port facility at Longue Hougue South would not be dependent on the proposed inert waste site going ahead. However if the States agree to the STSB’s current proposals, the current design of any new land reclamation site in this location could be reviewed, to provide for the optimal port arrangements.
Material might also be stockpiled at the current inert waste facility for a period, to enable an area of land reclamation at Longue Hougue South to be completed in tandem with the development of a new port.
Read more in tomorrow's Guernsey Press
Details of the project can be found at here
