Transport plan for the north to be published early this year

Environment & Infrastructure vice-president Adrian Gabriel said the committee was continuing to work towards publishing a ‘Better Transport Plan’ for the north of the island and this was now expected to be in early 2024.

‘We all know there is a vital need for more homes to be built in Guernsey, and through the Island Development Plan, the States has agreed that a number of significant housing developments will be delivered in a concentrated area of the island,’ he said.

‘While this provides the housing we need, this is an area where some road infrastructure is already under strain.’

There are currently a number of major housing projects – set to provide hundreds of new homes in the north of the island – are either with the planners awaiting permission, or are having plans drawn up.

It is this extra pressure which is expected to come to the roads of Vale and St Sampson’s that has driven the need for the plan.

Deputy Gabriel said that publishing a plan was not expected to delay any planning applications coming forward.

‘But it will provide a coordinated plan for how transport will be managed within a defined part of the island as anticipated developments are brought forward.’

The Guernsey Housing Association commissioned specialists WSP to conduct a mobility plan at the end of 2022 as part of the planning for the Fontaine Vinery site in St Sampson’s, and information from this has been used to inform E&I’s forthcoming report.

‘The Better Transport Plan will give people more choice in how they get around, rather than feeling they have no choice but to drive most of their journeys,’ he said.

‘This will create more space on the road for everyone – including those who still need to drive.’

There are concerns that some of the planned development for the area is being held back by a reluctance from the Guernsey Housing Association to progress sites without flood alleviation measures being created off the Bridge.