DUTCH developer Verweij en Partners is poised to submit a planning application for Alderney’s Fort Tourgis early next year.

VP signed an agreement with the States of Alderney in April 2008 giving it the option to purchase the fort for £1m. and lease the adjoining land.

The deal was signed on 4 June last year and grants VP exclusive access to the fort for two years. Under the agreement, VP undertook to apply for detailed planning permission. Once approved, VP has the option, but not the obligation, to proceed to purchase Tourgis within 60 days and subsequently to convert it into an international hotel and conference centre.

The States has been concerned about the lack of activity concerning Tourgis, but VP’s Frans Verweij said progress was being made.

‘We are very busy working out the plans for Fort Tourgis. We are planning to submit the application for the planning permission in the first quarter of 2010.’

In the December Alderney Billet d’Etat, Policy and Finance chairman Richard Willmott said the global financial crisis had affected VP’s plans.