Chain at Alderney breakwater ‘an erosion of our basic rights’

The chain appeared last week and is preventing vehicles and bicycles from driving along the 700m long pier.

Alderney General Services Committee chairwoman Lin Maurice said the chain had been put up by workers from the States of Guernsey, who had not consulted with anyone from Alderney.

She said she did not think Guernsey States had considered the impact the chain was having.

‘The breakwater has been there for 100 years without any chains, and now you can’t go down it,’ she said.

‘Loads of people have crab pots down there and they are going to have to drag them back. It’s changing the Alderney way of life.’

The breakwater is under States of Guernsey control due to a 1985 deal with the British admiralty in which Guernsey took responsibility for the breakwater’s maintenance instead of contributing to the UK’s defence budget.

‘The chain is an erosion of people’s basic rights,’ said Alderney representative Steve Roberts.

‘Personally I’m annoyed. There was no consultation and we weren’t asked about it at all.

'People use the breakwater as a leisure amenity. As kids we all used to go down there to fish. People would cycle all the way to the end on bicycles.

‘Personally I would like to have just seen a disclaimer, so people knew if they were going down there it was at their own risk. We have all these rules and regulations saying you can’t do things. We were always known as a relaxed jurisdiction and we have allowed mainland laws and ways of doing things to creep in.’

Guernsey infrastructure officer Marco Tersigni said that vehicular access to the breakwater has always been prohibited other than for emergency and maintenance vehicles.

‘This prohibition is to enable ongoing repairs to be carried out unimpeded but also for public safety,’ he said.

‘We were made aware that some other vehicles were accessing the breakwater despite the existing prohibition and, therefore, given the risk to maintenance workers and the potential hazards that exist on the breakwater, we liaised with officers in the States of Alderney about installing the current locked chain which has now been installed.

'This does not prevent pedestrians from accessing the breakwater.’

David Nash, a keen local angler, said he was incensed at the appearance of the chain.

‘Many anglers who drive and ride up there are going to be inconvenienced.’

‘It’s really wide. You can do a three point turn up there. There’s absolutely no need for this. Most of the anglers feel its totally unfair.’

‘I first drove an old Ford Escort down the wall over 50 years ago when I was a young writer on Angling Times,’ he said.

‘It has always been a right enjoyed by residents who are fully aware of any risks they take. This is seen by many on the island as an infringement of our civil liberties.’