THIRD parties that might be affected if Guernsey Post wins its appeal against a move by the regulator will have a chance to defend their position.

This emerged after the dispute went before a case management conference of the Royal Court yesterday.

The utility is challenging the Office of Utility Regulation’s decision to reduce its monopoly area of business from items costing up to £1.35 to post to £1 from 1 April.

Guernsey Post intends to appeal against that one aspect of proposed tariff changes but the OUR is arguing that it should not be allowed to do that.

For the regulator, Advocate Elaine Gray said the reserved area aspect did not stand alone – it was part of a package of measures.

‘One needs to look at the totality of the measures as just because something isn’t challenged doesn’t mean it won’t be affected by something that is,’ she said.

‘Generally, we say it’s the whole decision that stands or falls.’

For Guernsey Post, Advocate Christian Hay said his client was keen to limit the scope of the appeal for reasons of expediency and cost.

He argued that it was important that anybody who might be affected by a change to the reserved area had a chance for input.

‘There are parties that will have an interest in this decision and it seems sensible to take steps to ensure they are flushed out at an early stage,’ he said.

But it was wrong that a party had to challenge a whole range of decisions, he said.

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