Alderney's Chief Minister in the dark over FAB Link 'progress reports'

Wednesday 28 April 2021

The architects of the controversial FAB Link have made "limited progress" with the French authorities as they seek to create a 220km inter-connector between Devon and the Cotentin peninsula - with questions raised after the latest developments were not brought to the attention of Alderney's senior politician.

Just last week, Policy & Finance Chairman Bill Abel went on the record as saying that, to his knowledge, there had been no communications between FAB Link and the States of Alderney.

It has emerged since that updates were exchanged about the controversial project, however it remains unclear who within the States of Alderney received them and why they were not distributed to Mr Abel. 

"Subsequent enquiries have established that FAB Link progress reports on the project have been received," he confirmed yesterday. "These progress reports are contractual requirements and provide updates on the work FAB Link is undertaking in the UK and the limited progress they have made with the French authorities."

"The Chief Executive will review the situation and provide feedback to the Policy & Finance Committee."

Pictured: States of Alderney's top politician and P&F Chairman Bill Abel. 

The proposed project to build an electrical inter-connector between France and Great Britain, via Alderney, was originally due to commence in 2018 and sparked outrage from residents of the northern isle.

In 2019, Alderney was at the centre of a multi-million ‘corruption’ investigation, with a consortium of residents taking allegations of financial impropriety to a firm of London lawyers. They took their claims to the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General, which referred the matter to Guernsey Police, which has not deemed it worth investigating further. 

In return for allowing infrastructure on its shores, it was reported that Alderney would gain £70,000 per year – however the group of residents alleged that private individuals were set to benefit to the tune of millions.

The company behind the plans, FAB Link Limited, has reportedly made little headway with the French authorities, and the revised timetable of works - starting in 2021 and culminating in 2025 - appear destined to be pushed back once again.