‘As much local expertise will be used as possible’
ECONOMIC benefits for Guernsey from the redevelopment of La Grande Mare at Vazon are being promised by its owner.
Although Stephen Lansdown is now facing inevitable cost increases due to the time taken for planners to approve the project, he said he remained committed to a project where he expects the total costs to run into tens of millions of pounds.
‘Inflation has kicked in and we need to see what the cost factor is, and the issues with the supply chains, which has caused lots of industries problems and will cause us problems,’ he said.
‘We need to look at where we are with our contractors as to where we are with the work and what their availability is.’
Mr Lansdown said he expected to use local labour and resources as much as possible.
‘Ideally so... having said that it will be in the hands of the main contractors to get the job done, but they will decide where the expertise comes from.
‘We will have to import some of the expertise, without a doubt, but as much as we can, we will use local people.’
Mr Lansdown said he now expected the project might be completed by 2025, rather than 2024 as originally planned.
He said he still believed in the tourism benefits of the plans and in the island as a destination to attract visitors.
‘I have been here 11 years and I would not be still here if I did not like it. I have very good friends and I like to invest in my local community. I have investments elsewhere in the world so it is not just Guernsey I am involved with, but this is my home and I want to do well by it,’ he said.
‘As a destination Guernsey is a beautiful island, a wonderful place to come to, and I think if you give people a reason to be here and they come, they will fall in love with it like a lot of us have done over the years.
‘From the point of weddings this will be a fantastic venue, and from a golf perspective the idea of developing the course for it to help not only develop golf in the island but create a course of top quality, it will make people want to come and stay here, and keep coming back, I hope.
‘I have confidence in all that and the restaurants which we will have here will be very beneficial to the island. From a La Grande Mare and tourism perspective I think it will be a great success. I would not be doing it otherwise.’
