Another Alderney States’ Member has issued a public statement on the fall out from the ongoing row over a potential data centre being built in the island.
Stuart Clark is Chair of Alderney’s Economic Development Committee.
He has said that “at present we do not have a developer, a selected site, a final design, a cooling system, an energy source or even a defined project”.
Writing an opinion piece for Express, Mr Clark was responding to recent concerns aired over the possibility of a data centre being built in Alderney, which have been heightened by the suspension of fellow States Member Alex Snowdon – who said that the Code of Conduct is being used to gag him, after he raised concerns about the project.
Mr Snowdon also recently told Express that the ongoing discussions around a data centre could lead to a “major constitutional crisis in the island”.
Mr Clark has reiterated comments made by the Chair of the island’s Policy and Finance Committee, who has also tried to clarify the situation around a data centre.
Jeannie Cameron recently wrote that: “Confidentiality and accountability are essential to Alderney’s future,” while Mr Clark has added that: “Alderney cannot prosper on suspicion and accusation”.
On the data centre row itself, Mr Clark said public consultation has not been carried out yet because there was nothing to consult the public on.
“If a credible proposition emerges, there will then be something real to examine: the economics, the power requirement, the site, the environmental consequences, the heritage implications, the infrastructure needed and the benefits it might bring to the community,” he wrote.
“That is also the point at which public consultation becomes meaningful. Asking people today whether they support an unidentified data centre of unknown size, built by an unidentified company on an unidentified site and using unidentified technology would not be meaningful consultation. It would be theatre.”
The data centre row has now been rumbling for months.
It first became public discourse when Mr Snowdon shared information about the possible location of a potential data centre with a member of the public, and was found to have breached the States Members Code of Conduct twice in doing so. One of the complaints was lodged by Mr Clark.
Following the publication of the judgments by the Commissioner for Standards, Ms Cameron initially said “there is no proposal for a data centre” before clarifying that a feasibility study and other work has been carried out.
Ms Cameron and other States Members then issued a public statement reiterating that “no data centre has been approved”.
The ongoing row has now turned personal, with Mr Clark questioning Mr Snowdon’s political track record.
Describing him as appearing to be “genial and approachable”, Mr Clark said Mr Snowdon is in fact “confrontational” and “the principal source of division” within the States of Alderney.
Mr Clark said that Mr Snowdon is not prevented from opposing a data centre or criticising the States, “but disagreement does not exempt any of us from the obligations of accuracy, evidence and professional conduct”.
“Nobody is trying to stop Snowdon opposing a data centre, and nobody is asking him to support one,” wrote Mr Clark.
“What I am asking is much simpler: that facts are distinguished from suspicions, that confidential information is treated in accordance with the rules, that independent findings are respected even when they are unwelcome, and that political disagreement does not become a basis for repeatedly questioning the integrity of colleagues without evidence.”
