Outgoing harbour leader blasts 'funding challenges'

The outgoing chair of an infrastructure body created by the States to develop Guernsey's commercial ports has described the funding challenges which influenced his resignation.

Peter Watson, who resigned after three years leading Guernsey Development Agency (GDA), warned without change the island would "never bring its Eastern Seaboard to its full potential".

Watson vowed to "never get involved with government again" after a tenure in which he claimed to have been "slowly choked" by the Treasury and encountered resistance.

Lindsay De Sausmarez, president of policy and resources, said she understood the agency's frustrations and had arranged a meeting to find the "most effective next steps".

Waston, who was in charge of developing the St Peter Port and St Sampson's harbour areas as part of a 25-year programme, said development agencies in the UK had "land, money and a clear objective" amid "light-touch political oversight".

But the agency had experienced "conflicts with other government departments", while funding was "tremendously challenging".

He said they delivered a development plan but no funding had materialised.

He said the board needed land, money and a "clear objective", along with a "clear interface" with government departments.

Describing the "huge potential" of Guernsey's Eastern Seaboard, he said St Sampson's was a "very complicated" project with "lots of inter-dependencies".

He said there were also "simpler projects" that could have progressed quickly but were not due to "total confusion" over responsibility along with "resistance from civil servants".

He said without change Guernsey would "never bring its Eastern Seaboard to its full potential".

De Sausmarez, who chairs the Guernsey Development Agency political oversight group, said the agency had done "a lot of valuable work".

"We understand and very much share the frustrations of the GDA," she added.

"The lack of a strategic decision over our future harbour requirements has really tied the GDA's hands behind its back," she said.

Describing the limited progress over the last four years, she said this was "immensely frustrating", but said all committees involved - including those tasked with flood defences and fuel importation - were "hard at work" to move it forward.

"This P&R has been relentless in dragging this issue off the back burner where it had sadly been languishing and giving it the focus it deserves," she added.

In an earlier statement, non-executive director of the Guernsey Development Agency, James Ede Golightly, thanked Watson for his service.

"Peter's tenacity and passion to enhance our island has been a key reason for the GDA's successes to date," he said.

"In this time, the agency has progressed to develop tangible plans for enhancements in St Sampsons that promise economic revitalisation, flood defences and vital housing whilst improving the area for the local community and visitors."

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