The Chief Minister has defended plans to build a temporary village for construction workers to live in for the second time in a week.

Deputy Lyndon Trott was speaking at Friday’s Chamber of Commerce lunch when he was asked about it.

He said there has been a very strong response since the tender went live at the end at the end of January.

Tenders must be in by the end of this month and he seemed confident the project will progress “at full speed”.

However, the Policy and Resources President acknowledged concerns that have been raised by Guernsey-based construction firms.

The Chamber of Commerce lunch was held at the OGH on 14 February.

“…it makes complete sense (to build the temporary villages) but of course it does introduce competition – not necessarily, but the construction village may help local firms to house their non-indigenous workers, but it is possible this will be a separate entity that will come in to build houses or possibly other aspects, but it’s a natural reaction, a negative reaction, to competition and that is why I have made it very clear that we will be pressing ahead at full speed,” said Deputy Trott.

He said that the £5million price tag attached to each of the two proposed temporary villages might be reduced as well, with early interest in the project suggesting the costs could be negotiable.

“I’m told by our procurement people that we’ve had a very strong response (to the tender opening), which is very pleasing, because clearly there are a number of people who want to come forward with their ideas which will hopefully drive that initial cost down.

“It’s for the long term benefit of this community, and that is the job of a politician to evaluate all of the different component parts of the policy to determine what is in the best interests overall of the community, and not a particular business or sector.”

The Scrutiny hearing with P&R was held on 10 February.

Concerns have been raised by various businesses operating within Guernsey’s construction sector around the proposed temporary villages.

Industry leaders have told Express they are worried that allowing a Jersey-based firm to make use of a States-owned temporary workers village will backfire on the local construction industry – leaving Guernsey firms at a financial and logistical disadvantage. 

Deputy Gavin St Pier asked the P&R panel about these concerns during the Scrutiny public hearing earlier this month.

He highlighted comments that have been made by the Guernsey Construction Forum and the Guernsey Building Trades Employers Association who said they weren’t consulted on the plans and “aren’t full on board with it”.

Deputy Trott said “you’d expect them to say that”, adding that he knew his view wouldn’t endear him to his friends in the construction sector.

“You’re talking about introducing significant amounts of competition which is in the best long term interests of this community as a whole. Therefore it is understandable and unsurprising that those with the most significant interests in this would seek to frustrate and delay this process.”

The temporary construction workers village could be built at Les Ozouets.
A temporary village – believed to be for ‘key workers’ could be built at Les Coutanchez.

The news that two temporary villages could be built at Les Ozouets and Les Coutanchez, to enable ROK to bring in workers to build the new post-16 campus was revealed last Friday, after the tender for the two temporary villages went live. It closes on 28 February.

Documents seen by Express show that workers could be housed on the site where the new post-16 Campus is to be built and in a field near the current College of Further Education campus.