The Guernsey Construction Forum has reiterated its stance over plans to build temporary accommodation for off-island workers brought over to build the new post-16 campus saying the ‘village’ should be paid for by the contractor and not tax payers.
Industry leaders have grown increasingly concerned about plans to build ‘construction villages’ since the idea was first mooted in the 2025 Budget, published last October.
When the tender process for the project went live at the end of January, documents seen by Express showed plans for the temporary accommodation to be built at Les Ozouets and Les Coutanchez.
P&R says that has not been confirmed yet – but the States have already agreed to spend £88million building a new post-16 education campus at Les Ozouets, which in turn would free up space for a potential housing development when the College of Further Education vacates its buildings at Les Coutanchez.
Where concerns have been raised by construction businesses around the plans to bring in workers to build the new campus they’ve been accused of being anti-competition.
The P&R President, Deputy Lyndon Trott said as much during last Monday’s Scrutiny hearing and at the Chamber of Commerce lunch on Friday.
The GCF says that is not the case.
“We welcome competition, it enables us to demonstrate good value to clients,” it said. “We compete amongst ourselves for projects and there are many established businesses with a pan island presence.
“Off island competition is inevitable in most industries. What is important, and an item Deputy Trott hasn’t addressed, is our concern that under this proposal off island contractors appear to be receiving tax payer funded financial assistance.”
Key industry professionals from the local construction sector have told Express of heir concerns around the plans after the tender for providing both went live at the end of January.
Jersey firm ROK Ltd won the contract to build the new education campus and the plans do not include any accommodation for staff to be housed on site.
The estimated cost for building a temporary village has been put at £5m each, with two proposed initially. If the villages are used to staff the building of the new Les Ozouets Campus the £5m price tag would be on top of the £88m already committed to the project.
The GCF said when its members bring workers over, the tax payer doesn’t settle bills for accommodation, so that shouldn’t be the case for off-island firms either.
“Unfortunately, as evidenced, P&R took the decision not to engage with industry on this initiative, resulting in misrepresentation and not understanding industry’s concerns to their advantage.
“To be clear, contrary to the political statement made, we support the principle of on site accommodation for construction workers, provided it is fully funded by the contractor (as the Lagan accommodation for the airport was), not directly by the tax payer; and that the costs are fully accounted for in the tender assessment process. A subject we believe was not the case for the tender of The Guernsey Institute.
“An attempt to do the same thing in Jersey three- years ago was considered and the idea was subsequently abandoned by fellow Ministers, arguing ‘that it is not the role of Government to house private-sector workers. It would set a very dangerous precedent for the States Assembly to agree that public resources should be allocated to supporting a commercial venture’.”
The GCF said it would “welcome the opportunity of dialogue and assurances from P&R” and Express understands a meeting is now being scheduled.
In response to some of the already well-publicised concerns, P&R has said a temporary workers village is vital to its plans to speed up construction with local firms already busy.
“The construction village is a rapid intervention to address the lack of capacity within the construction industry and the lack of accommodation to house construction workers, with the aim of introducing more capacity to unlock significant and much needed development in Guernsey, in the long-term interest of our community,” the committee said.
P&R said that “Les Ozouets and Coutanchez are sites that are being considered, but several other sites are also being assessed” with other details also to be finalised.
“The initial construction village is likely to serve the requirements of major States of Guernsey capital projects, however we’d be happy to explore what additional demand there is from all areas of the industry,” said P&R.
“It is anticipated that the construction village will be used by non-resident workers on a short-term basis and will be based on demand. The accommodation will be treated in the same way as other temporary arrangements used by the Guernsey construction industry including houses in multiple occupation, hotels and B&Bs.
“The villages will be subject to formal planning and building regulations. It is proposed that the villages will be managed under third-party service agreements.
“When a major capital project has been completed, the construction village pods will then be relocated to the next major capital project(s) if required. If they are no longer required and remain serviceable, they will be sold in order to recover costs.”
