Vale Douzaine pushes for Leale's Yard info

Officials at the Vale Douzaine are putting pressure on the States of Guernsey to reveal when construction work will start at Leale's Yard.

On Tuesday, the States said demolition of the site, which the States bought in July 2025, would begin in September.

Vale Senior Constable John Niles said the project to redevelop the site "seems further away under States ownership than when the Coop and developers Omnibus were running it".

Deputy Chief Minister Yvonne Burford said appointing specialist experts would help develop a long-term masterplan for Leale's Yard and surrounding sites, unlocking new homes, infrastructure and economic growth, with demolition work now the immediate focus.

Politicians voted to make the development of Leale's Yard one of the States' super-priorities for this political term.

In November 2025, the States said it was looking for experts to support the States with "master-planning" for the area.

Niles criticised the States for using consultants after the States Chief Executive Boley Smillie said the organisation was cutting down on its use of outside experts in an effort to make savings.

The BBC has asked how much these consultants will cost taxpayers.

Niles said: "We hope that there will be early and full consultation with the douzaine on what P&R [the Policy & Resources Committee] has in mind with this new phase of the on-off development of Leale's Yard.

"If government is really going back to basics on this, it suggests that years of previous consultation, design and and planning permissions will simply be written off.

"There has been extensive parish involvement in what we thought was going to be built there under the Coop/Omnibus proposals and, while they may not have been perfect, they were a huge improvement on what's there now and would have benefitted the community.

"Now, unless we hear to the contrary, all that work appears to have been wasted and imminent house building pushed back to, well, who knows when."

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