 |
STATES OF ALDERNEY & ALDERNEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Future of the Aurigny GroupJoint Press Release 16 July 2010
The States of Alderney and the Alderney Chamber of Commerce are concerned by recent reports about a possible merger between Blue Islands and Aurigny and are watching developments very closely. Aurigny currently employs a significant number of people in Alderney, including ground staff and staff involved in customer service.
Richard Wilmott, Chairman of the States of Alderney Policy and Finance Committee said:
“The Southampton/Alderney route is a lifeline route for Alderney and that must be maintained. At the same time the States of Alderney and the Chamber of Commerce are looking for ways to boost the number of visitors to the island, and air travel is key to this objective.”
The States of Alderney are engaging with the Alderney Chamber of Commerce and colleagues in Guernsey to establish the facts, and to seek to safeguard the interests of the island’s infrastructure and economy.
Andrew Eggleston, President of the Alderney Chamber of Commerce said:
“When two companies agree to a merger or to a buy-out, there is inevitably duplication of jobs which ultimately results in redundancies.ENDS
Any possible rise in unemployment at this time in Alderney would be a worry. The other initial concern that has come back to us from our members is the potential loss of our last direct route to the UK. Chamber considers it is paramount that the Alderney / Southampton sector is retained.
If the buy-out were to succeed we would hope that Guernsey does not simply become our hub – in that we have to fly via Guernsey to reach any other destination.”
Contact: Roy Burke, Chief Executive of the States of Alderney - 01481 822816
|
PRESS RELEASE - Queens Birthday Honours List
It is announced from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor that the following have received an honour from Her Majesty The Queen in the Birthday Honours List:Guernsey
| Knighthood | Sir Geoffrey Rowland ‘For services to the Crown and the community in the Bailiwick of Guernsey’ | |||
| MBE* | Mr John Gallienne ‘For voluntary services to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and to the communities in Guernsey and Sark’ | |||
| MBE* | Mr David Miller ‘For services to horticulture in Guernsey’ |
Alderney
| MBE* | Ms Barbara Benfield ‘For services to the community in Alderney’ |
*(Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire)
ENDS
|
An Update on Renewable Energy - Facts
Ref. st651aCritics of the deal negotiated on behalf of the States of Alderney by ACRE [the Alderney Commission for Renewable Energy] with ARE [Alderney Renewable Energy] have claimed that it was a “give away”. Not so!
As has been explained in earlier notes, the ACRE/ARE Agreement should produce royalties greater than those received by the UK Crown Estate for off shore wind farms. An extra benefit is that from January 2011 Alderney will receive £200K per year to reduce the price of electricity until such time as the royalties exceed that amount. Furthermore, UK renewable energy companies are shelving projects because they cannot connect them to the National Grid as the Grid infrastructure has not been built. You will recall that a critical part of the last minute change in the ACRE negotiations with ARE was to secure a connection to the French grid. The importance of that change is only too clear.
The States of Alderney Accounts show that the extra costs incurred to fund ACRE in the initial four years 2005 to 2008 was a total of £140K. Of this only about ~£20K was pay, the remainder being for outside reports etc. Thus nearly all the work was done by the various Commissioners for free. Of course States members and civil servants time was involved but such costs are not charged to this specific project or to any project or activity that the States is responsible for. In its discussions with ARE, ACRE negotiated fees to ensure that all their future costs were covered. Whilst the States had hoped to recoup some of their past costs, ACRE have indicated that they need to put in place now the infrastructure needed to ensure that they have the necessary information on Alderney’s tidal resource to discharge their environmental responsibilities and help them in negotiations with both the existing and future operators. Unlike Guernsey and Jersey, Alderney can be proud of the fact that it now has a tidal energy project that is covering its costs and will not be a drain on the States whilst it develops over the coming years.
It should be noted that the amount invested in British renewable energy schemes in the first three months of 2008 was £377M whilst in the first three months of 2009 it was £79M, a collapse of ~80%. The industry is struggling to secure finance due to the credit crunch. Against that background, tidal energy development in Alderney depends on getting high levels of investment. Ill-informed comments in the local media will spread via the internet and may damage investment prospects. I cannot believe that is what residents want.
ENDS
Contact: Colin Williams – Chairman Financial Advisory Group, tel. 01481 824156
