Alderney wants £100,000 tidal power money to help fill housing black hole

Thursday 23rd September 2010, 1:00PM BST.

Handing over some States houses to the newly-formed Alderney Housing Association has left the island with a £165,000 rent shortfall which it wants to fill partially by diverting money earmarked for the Guernsey Renewable Energy Commission. (Picture by Rachel Sowden)

ALDERNEY wants more than £100,000 to help fill the hole left in the island’s budget caused by a housing initiative.

In August, the Alderney Housing Association was created to improve the quality of States housing following years of insufficient funding for repairs and maintenance.

But the transfer of most of its housing stock will leave a £165,000 revenue shortfall – which would normally have come from rent – in the States’ coffers.

Applications were made to the Policy Council to fill the gap but the request failed to be even scored in the States Strategic Plan, which prioritises government spending.

Now an amendment by Alderney’s Policy and Finance Committee chairman Richard Willmott, which will be debated in Guernsey’s States next week, seeks to secure £100,000 earmarked for the Guernsey Renewable Energy Commission.