By Lynda Myer
In order to exploring the viability and benefits of a tunnel between the Channel Islands and a link to France, in the current week Guernsey and Jersey’s Chambers of Commerce are hosting meetings, with attendance of Arild Sovik, network director at the Norwegian Tunnelling Society, and Teitur Samuelsen, CEO of Eystur- og Sandoyartunlar, the Faroe Islands government-owned tunnel corporation, that are due to address the meetings.
Emphasizing of the possibility of this concept the Channel Islands group, Connect 3 Million, has been campaigning for this idea since 2019, because other similar tunneling projects have been successful. It cites the Faroe Islands, where 11km of sub-sea links have been built.
Connecting three million people in lower Normandy to Guernsey, via Jersey, with a commute time of one hour, is the discussion topic of this group.
Following that the Jersey government announced a study to assess the economic advantages of establishing a fixed connection to France on October 2023, the fixed link proposals for the Channel Islands gained momentum.
According to Connect 3 Million spokesperson Rollo de Sausmarez: “The benefits of a tunnel outweighed the obstacles. Many of the problems we have come from the fact that we are isolated – there is an expensive stretch of water between us and anywhere else, and that increases the cost of everything. It is going to be a lot of money, but the money generated from thousands and thousands of people using it every day are really quite significant.”
Alice Gill, executive director of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce, supports the concept and stats: “Guernsey’s harbour has fewer physical restrictions in comparison to Jersey; it could become the main harbour for both islands. Then roll this out to all areas… tourism, healthcare, recruitment. The possibilities and potential benefits are huge – we would be so much stronger connected.”
