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A harbour is the beating heart of an island. It holds historic significance, provides an essential link to the outside world, includes impressive pieces of infrastructure, and is often the first impression of a community.
Braye Harbour is no different.
Protected by the iconic and impressive Alderney breakwater, Braye Harbour perches at the end of the sweeping Braye Beach, and a plan has been developed to continue making best use of one of the island’s most notable assets.
But why?
While the Alderney MasterPlan was only recently published, the idea of developing Alderney’s harbour by specifically pursuing plans for a marina was being kicked around as early as 2013.
These plans were being developed by a company called Braye Harbour Developments with the intention of building a 400-berth marina for £25million, possibly by 2015.
It was subsequently decided that Braye Harbour needed to be looked at in the round instead.
The Alderney Land Use Plan was published in 2017 and identifies an area called the Braye Opportunity Area as a place for “future development and enhancement”.
A report was then commissioned by the States of Alderney with the aim of identifying what could be done with the area as whole.
“We shouldn't have a marina in isolation,” said States member, Bruce Woodhead, “but we should establish exactly what's going to happen in the whole area so that we don't make a mistake.”
Mr Woodhead sits on the Economic Development Committee, and was on the General Services Committee when the development of the MasterPlan was first initiated.
"We decided that we should identify what development should take place, and I think the most important thing is that the marina was going to be a very big factor and now it's not such a big factor.
“Secondly, the harbour office and the harbourmaster really want to get on and tidy the area up and they needed a [steer] as to where things should move to and how they should get on with it.”
‘The Braye Opportunity Area MasterPlan’, was formed after stakeholder workshops and one-to-one consultations with people who live or work in the area, as well as consultation with the community.
It is to be used as a framework for transforming the harbour and western end of the Braye Bay area in partnership with the commercial and business community, investors and developers.
Discussions were held with local stakeholders before the MasterPlan was drawn up by strategists, economists, urban designers, planners and architects from Avison Young Ltd and Maccreanor Lavington, and approved by the General Services Committee (GSC) in March 2024 and confirmed by the Policy & Finance Committee on 9 April.
The island's General Services Committee has described this as “an exciting and inspiring vision that we want to share with everyone”.
In the published MasterPlan, there are six ideas for developing Braye Harbour, and the wider area that have been built into the framework, to "build confidence for private and public investors to work in partnership with the community and the States in the medium and long-term to deliver a social and economic transformation of the harbour area, unlocking potential growth over the next 10-15 years".
The six ‘ideas’ that have been identified to steer any future development, include; a commercial hub, a visitor hub, a well maintained ‘gateway’ to the island, a circular harbour, ‘nature and resilience’ and a harbour neighbourhood that’ll attract more people to live nearby.
The six ideas spill out into possible future developments that include a commercial campus for new business, a new recycling facility, improvements to the inner harbour, accessibility upgrades and an expanded commercial quay.
“In places it is a little bit over ambitious, especially the reference to servicing massive tankers and ships that pass by us," continued Mr Woodhead.
“But overall it's a very good plan and it's a very well prepared plan and very well structured, and I think that we should follow it fairly closely.”
When I spoke to Mr Woodhead he was keen to stress that this is only a document outlining what could be done, not what will be.
Pictured: Mr Woodhead.
"Some people haven't understood it properly and have seen it as a big development plan, which it isn’t. It is the same as the land use plan. It's a use plan. It's showing you how the different areas could be used.
“We have to get that message across to people.
“Extension of the commercial quay will not take place tomorrow or in the next year or two... [however] one of the first things that we can do is to create a more welcoming atmosphere for people coming in off boats."
The plans show an extension to the Commercial Quay that ultimately will improve docking for commercial shipping together with the opportunity for passenger ferries and small cruise ships to dock, while also creating a space for a small marina with separate walkways to portside.
This has already led to comments from one States Member who wants to stress that Alderney should not focus on a new marina at the expense of its plans for an upgraded airport and new runway.
Alderney States Member, and Representative in the States of Guernsey Alex Snowdon said that there could be a problem caused by this new report, with the focus on the harbour and marina in particular.
"The airport is number one, the ferry is not number one," he said.
"[The airport] is part of the 1948 Agreement, it is fundamentally important to us. Alderney's airport is the oldest in the Channel Islands because we are that bit more remote, and sea transport doesn't work all year round for our residents.
"[A ferry service] is not going to be able to replace aviation services so I hope people don't get too carried away with (that idea), because it just won't happen."
In response, Mr Woodhead said it’s important that people understand that the push for the airport can work in tandem with discussions around the future of Braye.
“Well, [raising this as an issue] is a grossly uninformed approach because the airport is something that must happen now, with many millions of pounds needing to be spent on it.
“It's not a long-term future project... everything relating to the airport is already underway and we are concentrating 100% on the airport.
“That doesn't mean you can't do anything else and [the MasterPlan] isn't an immediate project taking up money that would have been spent on the airport.”
The States of Alderney is now reviewing the high-level short-, medium- and long-term programmes and projects within the MasterPlan.
They'll then be prioritised and time-lined, ready for each project’s business case to be submitted in priority order to include, but not limited to, benefits, costs, risk and issues, resource requirements, and funding options.
The timeline for each business case is dependent on priority and size, as some of the projects are likely to be substantial and may also require additional financial support and/or partnerships, and therefore will require further analysis and feasibility work.
There will also be a series of public consultations to present the MasterPlan to the community, the first of which is this coming Saturday [27 April].
You can read the full report ONLINE. Alternatively, a physical copy of the report can also be read at the Harbour Office.
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