Guernsey’s deputies have agreed to progress plans for using Les Vardes Quarry for water storage and reclaiming land at Black Rock.
The two issues were originally going to be debated as one – but Deputy Mark Helyar was successful in his effort to separate the two.
Supported by Deputy Bob Murray, he argued that the two issues were not reliant on each other and should be studied separately with individual votes.
His view point was supported 25 votes in favour, 12 against, two ‘ne vote pas’, and one abstention.
Once the issues had been separated, the States went on to vote in favour of both.
That means Black Rock, on Northside, has been chosen as the future site for land reclamation using inert waste.
That still needs to get the necessary permissions, meaning E&I will still need to go through planning processes, environmental assessments, and any other regulatory hurdles before the project can be started.
Crucially, the States also noted the intention to continue stockpiling inert waste at Longue Hougue until the Black Rock site is ready for use.
The fact that stockpiling will continue in the interim is important because it means we’re unlikely to see immediate changes to how inert waste is managed in the short term. It signals that the current system will continue until the new Black Rock site is ready – and it can be challenged in the future.
The States also agreed that Les Vardes Quarry will be the preferred option for storing freshwater in the future, once Ronez has finished quarrying there.
This proved to be the more contentious of the two propositions when it came to the debate.
Those who were not in favour cited the necessary purchase, negotiations and all, which they said could leave Guernsey paying a premium price for the quarry which is owned by Ronez.
It was suggested that negotiations to buy the quarry have not even started so the future cost is a complete unknown.
Despite those, and other misgivings concerning whether the additional water storage is even needed, the vote came out in favour of using Les Vardes for water storage.
This doesn’t mean it will become a reservoir immediately, but it sets the direction for its use.
