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The deep water liner berth could be built, ensuring the future of some 100 liner visits a year. If they were able to tie up at a quayside, passengers would just be able to walk ashore, and this would also enable disabled and elderly easy access. Tendering operations enable some 100 people to come ashore at one time. The first passengers off are always the ones going on tours, so the rest just have to sit and wait. With many ships having 3,000-5,000 passengers, people can be waiting for hours to be called, and then it gets near lunchtime and they decide not to bother but have a free lunch. We have seen the hundreds queueing to return to their ship, so you can appreciate what happens on board. If liners were able to dock, passengers could embark and disembark here, so we would have people coming from Jersey and the Continent, probably occupying our hotels before and after.

Some of the millions could be for building the three or four budget hotels that I suggested two years ago, to reinvent tourism. The £30m. needed to lengthen the runway would be available. Budget airlines could be brought in, Aurigny would cease to exist, saving £7m. a year. The planes would be sold to raise a few more millions. Two hotel sites are readily available, St Martin’s Hotel and Idlerocks Hotel. Such hotels would be built by the States to reap the financial benefits. With budget hotels and airlines, travel agents in both the UK and Europe would be able to offer package holidays, and families would return and the whole Bailiwick would be booming. Sark, Herm and even Alderney would see thousands of visitors. There would be enough people here to support a daily ferry service to Jersey. The Town shops etc. would come back to life.

Of course, none of these things will ever happen. The States have no interest in tourism, the only thing they think about is our beloved finance industry. All their eggs in one basket springs to mind.

Regarding liners visiting, we have lost many this year, including two recently with over 3,000 passengers, because the sea was too rough for them to send tenders ashore. With global warming, might we not get more storms with high winds, consequently less and less visits and, perhaps, eventually liner companies might take Guernsey off their itineraries, probably going to Jersey, where I’m sure there will be a deep water berth built eventually.

Que sera – no hope, no idea, no ambition, Guernsey. We are becoming more and more a Third World country, while the rest of the world is trying to progress.

BOB STACEY

Victoria Homes.