Replacing marina gates could cost up to £10.7m

The cost of replacing 40-year-old gates at the entrance to Guernsey's largest marina would be between £5.2m and £10.7m, according to the States.

The QEII Marina was constructed in the mid-1980s and officials said that the condition of the gates had been "deteriorating, with concerns over their continuing operation".

The States' Trading Supervisory Board (STSB) is set to move ahead with plans to either repair or replace the gates - with repairs alone set to cost between £5.4m and £8.4m.

STSB president Mark Helyar said: "We currently do not have sufficient berths to meet demand for moorings and, if the QEII gates were to fail, that situation would become much worse."

The QEII currently provides berths for more than 700 local boats. If the water level was to drop by a metre (3.3ft), it is estimated more than a third of these vessels would be left aground.

The board said there was no preferred solution for the gates, adding, if States members give it the go ahead, it would invite potential contractors to propose their own solution.

Condition surveys in 2022 and 2026 concluded there was a high risk the gates would fail completely due to their age and condition.

Helyar said failure of the gates "would seriously impact the provision of facilities for local boat owners, and the effect of that will be felt more widely within the island's marine services sector".

"It is therefore important the gates continue to function as they were designed to, so the current operation of the marina is not compromised," he said.

The gates are designed to move up and down with the tide, to enable access to and from the Little Russel channel, and keep enough water in the marina so boats remain afloat, even at low tide, officials said.

The board said Guernsey Ports would be unable to cover the full cost of repairing or replacing the gates.

It said it was proposing to pay half through a loan from the States, adding the loan would be repaid from harbour charges, and the other half would come from the general revenue reserve.

The Policy and Resources Committee supported this approach, it added.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.