Last week business troubleshooter Kevin Keen called for the move to be ‘properly investigated’, claiming that it could help alleviate Jersey’s housing crisis and even provide a solution to where to build the new hospital, as medical facilities in France could be used instead.
He added that freight costs could be substantially reduced, lowering the cost of living for Islanders.
Mr Keen said that since raising the issue again he had been contacted by a number of individuals with expertise who say the project is possible and have shown enthusiasm for it. He said: ‘I would like to get people together working on this. I have been contacted by a number of people who have got a view on it and have got some expertise.
‘It is always surprising the people you have living and working in Jersey, what they do and what they have achieved. These are thoughtful people and I would like to look at this more with them outside of my working hours.
‘There have, of course, been some negative comments about this but all I am saying is that we
keep an open mind about this and take a look at the potential benefits.’
Writing in the opinion pages of today’s JEP, Mr Keen said that after discussions with several interested parties he had determined that a travel link to France would likely need to be a combination of bridge and tunnel connecting to the Island in the Harbour area.
He added that the ‘last thing he would want’ is for the States to execute the project and suggested that institutional investors, such as pension funds, could provide the funding with a return coming from tolls, which would also cover maintenance costs.
‘I was recently in Australia and if you look at Sydney Harbour Bridge, it took 50 years to build that,’ he said.
‘Now it would be unthinkable to not have it there – it’s part of the city. Maybe if a bridge to France is built here I won’t be around to see it. But it is worth looking at. I have seen places like Norway where they have huge bridges and tunnels in the middle of nowhere, so I think: “Why can’t we do that here?”.
‘What it perhaps needs is a politician to step up and be brave enough to say that they would back looking at it.’
