Les Vardes at centre of rubble debate

Longue Hougue is expected to be full by 2020/21 – an entirely predicable scenario – and there is, as yet, no new site earmarked. All of a sudden the word urgent is being applied to what to do next.

The trouble with the word urgent is that it can lead to rushed, ill-thought out decision making in the chamber. For the sponsoring committee, content on what they think the way forward should be and armed with knowledge, the rush can be an advantage, of course. It avoids pesky questions and rooting around in the background.

So an intervention by the Vale Douzaine in the inert waste strategy debate is timely. It has called for more information on why the option of using Longue Hougue reservoir was axed.

It fell out of the selection process around the second phase, 19th out of 20 on the environmental assessment and red flagged as having a major environmental constraint – water supplies.

Details of the scoring have not been published.

One site that did make a strong run was Les Vardes. It has the largest capacity of the options, a lifespan of some 38 years, and the estimated lowest gate fee, but might not be available until 2026.

In their recommendation to go ahead with reclamation at Longue Hougue South, Environment & Infrastructure and the States’ Trading Supervisory Board acknowledge that it will only be a medium-term solution.

In around a decade's time another States will be deciding whether to use Les Vardes or a new reclamation site north of Mont Cuet. Even if their reclamation solution goes ahead, it won’t be ready until 2023, so material will be stockpiled at Longue Hougue.

Perhaps it is too simple to suggest avoiding an expensive reclamation project, three more years stockpiling and waiting for Les Vardes. But like the Vale Douzaine’s work on Longue Hougue, these are the type of scenarios that States members need time and information to evaluate to be confident they are heading down the right path.