Alderney’s beleaguered States Member, Alex Snowdon, is pushing for all documents relating to a mooted data centre to be published.
He warned that “decisions with potentially profound and lasting consequences for Alderney must be made transparently, with proper democratic oversight” and that the “public must also have access to a full consultation and an independent assessment of the risks these developments could pose to a small island community like Alderney”.
Mr Snowdon reiterated to Express that the “Code of Conduct is being used to silence those of us raising legitimate concerns about hyper-scale data centres on Alderney”.
His comments were made after another Code of Conduct judgment went against him.
Mr Snowdon has been suspended for a second time by the island’s Standards Commissioner after breaching the Code of Conduct multiple times in relation to his concerns over a data centre potentially being built in the island.
He is now suspended from all States business for 14-days without pay, on top of a 30-day suspension, and being banned from the next three States meetings.
The latest Code of Conduct complaint was lodged by civil servant James Robinson with the Standards Commissioner, Melissa McCullough saying “other potential breaches arose” during her investigation.
She found Mr Snowdon guilty of all of them.
Ms McCullough distanced the latest complaint from the data centre itself saying: This investigation was not about whether a data centre should be developed in Alderney, or whether Mr Snowdon was entitled to oppose one.
“Nor was it an investigation into Mr Robinson’s conduct. It concerned Mr Snowdon’s conduct and whether there was a proper evidential basis for the allegations he made.”
She found that there was not, and that Mr Snowdon’s ongoing disbelief in the answers he was given to questions about the data centre, unsupported allegations made about Mr Robinson’s professional conduct and motives, and personal remarks he made about Mr Robinson breached parts of the Code of Conduct.
Mr Snowdon has maintained his stance – that the States of Alderney need to be transparent around the mooted data centre, including calling for any documents related to it to be released to the public.
He has also stated again that the Code of Conduct is being “weaponised” while suggesting there are people colluding on the data centre idea in Guernsey too.
“I remain deeply concerned that the Code of Conduct is being used to silence those of us raising legitimate concerns about hyperscale data centres on Alderney,” he told Express.
“It now appears that a civil servant was actively working with the States of Guernsey on proposals for longer-term data centre concessions for Alderney.
“This raises serious questions about transparency, accountability and whether the necessary committee resolutions and political authorisations were in place at the time.”
Mr Snowdon risks further complaints with his ongoing stance over the data centre, and his failure to apologise for past transgressions in handling the topic.
He maintains that transparency is needed to ensure any plans for a data centre are properly scrutinised and given “democratic oversight”.
“I believe all relevant documents must be released into the public domain, including the Stronghold proposal, the Memorandum of Understanding between the States of Alderney and Stronghold, the publicly funded feasibility study, and the concession documents relating to longer-term data centre rights.
“The public must also have access to a full consultation and an independent assessment of the risks these developments could pose to a small island community like Alderney.
“I believe the process should be suspended until these matters are properly examined and the public has had a meaningful opportunity to scrutinise if they even want hyperscale data centres. Given the seriousness of the concerns, I also believe an independent legal examination is necessary, with a full judicial review.
“Decisions with potentially profound and lasting consequences for Alderney must be made transparently, with proper democratic oversight. The States of Alderney and the civil servants involved have a duty to put the public interest first, rather than allowing private commercial interests to take precedence over the long-term interests of our island and its community.”
