Four years ago the Guernsey Development Agency was set up as a States-owned company to drive development from La Vallette to Salerie Corner and between Longue Hougue and the Vale Castle, but not a single project has yet got off the drawing board and no visible progress is expected anytime soon.
That is because the whole concept has been mishandled by the States, according to Economic Development president Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, who sits on the political oversight group to which the agency reports.
‘I feel we are completely missing the trick of what development agencies should be doing,’ she said.
‘We continue to hamstring them in terms of their mandate, their funding and the authority they have to drive projects.
‘The States is overprotective in continuing to have too much control over certain policy levers that could well be given to the development agency.’
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller told the latest Guernsey Press Politics Podcast – which is out today – that the inaction along the east coast was ‘a huge point of frustration’ for her and that behind the scenes she was constantly ‘advocating for more significant action to unleash the potential’ of the development agency.
Listen to the full interview with Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller
She praised the agency for producing ‘a fantastic piece of work’ in 2024 after it was asked to focus first on potential development around the Bridge. It produced an ambitious strategic vision which included new housing, shops and restaurants, a multi-storey car park, more marina space and the relocation of the power station.
Eighteen months later, with progress having stalled, the agency’s chairman resigned, claiming it had been set up to fail and strangled by process, and calling for it to be given more money, land and power, which has not happened.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller claimed that the problem was the States’ unwillingness to let go of policy development.
‘The automatic assumption is that all policy development should sit with politicians or the States,’ she said.
‘But I think you have got to delineate which policies could be driven outside of the States, with final sign off and approval of the States.
‘I think there is a difference between where policy can be developed and who has the final vote on those policies.’
She said one example was that the idea of putting inert waste at Black Rock to reclaim land for up to 600 new homes was now being handled by States officials when it could have been driven more efficiently by the development agency itself operating at arm’s length from government.
When the development agency was established, the previous Assembly tasked it with drawing up a strategic vision for the east coast while the States retained responsibility for executing any projects, effectively the reverse of how such development agencies are usually set up elsewhere. There were unheeded warnings at the time from some deputies, most notably current treasury lead Charles Parkinson, that this unconventional approach would inevitably fail.
The development agency, now under new leadership, recently announced it was drawing up a suite of much smaller projects around the Bridge which it hoped would prove more realistic in the foreseeable future. These included waterfront walkways, cycle paths, a sheltered bus station and a family-friendly community area.
This revised approach was approved in July by Deputy Kazantseva-Miller and her colleagues on the agency’s political oversight group, but before anything can be built there is the need for consultation with landowners and others, business plans and budgets, a States debate and then, if the Assembly votes in favour, detailed design work in consultation with neighbours.
The development agency said last month that it was feeling more positive again after securing the oversight group’s backing.
Deputy Kazantseva-Miller pledged to try to find new ways to speed up progress from this point.
‘It’s certainly an area where I would probably like to focus more of my attention,’ she said.
‘I think it will become more significant now that the future harbour work is progressing as well.
‘One of the key recommendations to Policy & Resources has been to give this project for progress and development to the Guernsey Development Agency rather than creating another political oversight group and keeping it as a civil service project.’