Hayley North: To tunnel or not to tunnel?

To tunnel or not to tunnel, that seems to be the question.

How much of the magic disappears when you improve connectivity between remote islands?

There is something special and alluring about being cut off from the mainland when the weather is bad. It is cosy and feels safe – as it did during the pandemic – which is all very appealing, unless of course you have an unfortunately-timed medical emergency, in which case such isolation could be a real worry. In fairness, I don’t know if this has ever been an issue as we have an effective medical evacuation system but it is always something that crosses my mind when I hear the foghorn.

Is part of the attraction of living here being cut off or is that just a fact of life we accept but sometimes worry about? Will what works in a group of islands with the same government, language and way of life (such as the Faroe Islands) work for islands like Guernsey and Jersey which are fiercely independent?

As much as I romanticise the isolation, I am also a bit of a romantic when it comes to tunnels and very long bridges. I was hooked on the fantastic Swedish/Danish crime drama The Bridge a few years ago. No, it was not a drama about the goings on in St Sampson’s, rather it focused on the hunt for a fictional serial killer by a team of police officers from Copenhagen in Denmark and Malmo in Sweden, helped in their work by the 16km Oresund bridge that connects the two cities by road and rail.

In real life, Swedes don’t quite understand Danish as much as the show might suggest (nor the Danes, Swedish) but it was an interesting lesson on how it is possible to permanently link two places with different languages, cultures and economies without either losing its identity. I have friends who live in Malmo and regularly commute by train to Copenhagen; it has increased job opportunities and broadened the minds and approaches of both places.

I have driven across this vast bridge myself in a camper van and let’s just say, given Guernsey winds, I think we are wise to opt for a tunnel instead. I was very surprised that I made it to the other side without being blown into the sea. I can report that taking the train over the bridge is much less stressful.

At the dawn of the millennium, I was lucky enough to have landed a job with a company setting up offices in Paris and I was a regular on the Eurostar in its early days (the Eurostar between Paris and London opened in 1994). I loved being able to hop on a train at Waterloo at the time (it now runs from St Pancras) and pop up at Paris’ Gare du Nord station in time for lunch. I have found the Eurotunnel to be less exciting but still just as convenient when travelling further afield by car.

London has only become more French since then in that more French people have chosen to go and work there, generating economic value as a result. London was already extremely cosmopolitan and it certainly hasn’t suffered by having better connectivity. Paris, of course, has remained resolutely French.

These are just two recent examples of cross-cultural collaboration on a large scale using long bridges and tunnels. The project we are contemplating seems much less risky by comparison, despite the distance we need to bridge being similar to the length of the Channel Tunnel as I understand it.

In both cases, no country or region lost its individuality or charm, nor did it lose control over its identity and culture. All regions have benefited from being more connected to their neighbours though.

Do we really need a tunnel though?

Our local airline is under pressure to keep pace with industry changes and the demands of a small island with extremely variable weather and a seemingly not so reliable fleet of small planes. Our ferries face similar challenges and many islanders and businesses struggle to organise their lives and livelihoods around this. It is no surprise that tourism has taken a hit too.

Our hospital is at capacity – a huge worry for islanders and surely a concern for anyone thinking about moving here. We seem to not have appropriate long-term care provision in place so that we can free up the beds we need and it does feel like only a matter of time before a crisis occurs. This is not sustainable, nor do we yet have a plan to fix it.

Our education system is in crisis too. The training options are limited for those who choose to stay on the island and we risk losing more young people to the mainland sooner than we would like. Even if people can find jobs and training, they cannot afford nor find a place to live.

Now some of these issues are peculiar to Guernsey, but many are themes that are troubling many jurisdictions. What is peculiar to us is that we have a chance to take a huge step towards changing things for the better with some clever strategic thinking.

A tunnel might simply include a road connecting the islands and allowing cheap and easy access for everyone to all that each island has to offer. If we are ambitious, it would also include a simple train service, perhaps connecting airports to one another as well as town centres, enabling freight to be transported easily and contributing to a reduction in car traffic where it is not required. As with the Channel Tunnel and Eurostar, it could be done in stages.

The tunnel will pay for itself if it targets more frequent, low-cost journeys rather than one-off trips at a higher price. In the Faroe Islands, for example, they found usage far exceeded their expectations once the tunnels were opened.

Linking with Jersey in a more productive way, we could share healthcare resources, suppliers and skilled teams of workers. This would allow us to collectively invest in better treatments and benefit from economies of scale in all areas when sourcing from the UK or abroad. Opening up both housing markets would encourage more skilled staff to come here and keep more young people here. Perhaps people would work on both islands rather than just one and choose to live where it suits them. It would make life easier for developers and ideally encourage more house-building alongside the creation of better facilities for those needing long-term care.

We would benefit from the better transport links in Jersey to both France and the UK and be better able to share resources such as ferry routes. This would eliminate ongoing debates about runway extensions and preserve more of our green space than if we decide to keep going it alone.

It is not a question of whether we can afford to build a tunnel many metres under the sea, but rather whether we can afford not to.