Alderney residents to vote on controversial cable project

Alderney residents will vote on a controversial project to bring an electricity cable ashore in the island.

The States have decided islanders should be allowed a say on the FAB project, which, under the current proposals, would see an electricity interconnector run from Longis Beach to Corbletts.

The people behind the scheme have offered the States between £250,000 and 500,000 per year, if the government agrees to allowing the island to be used as a link between France an Britain.

States Members voted 8-1 in favour of an Island wide vote to find out whether residents are in favour.

But one politician has argued that it should not be up to the public to decide.

• WATCH: Ian Tugby claims States Members should have the final say...

Alderney does not have the mechanism for referendum within its legislature, so the consultation will follow the same lines as the Plebiscite, which is used to help elect Alderney Representatives in Guernsey every four years.

The public cast votes for members nominated for the role, and the States then vote on the matter at the States Meeting. By tradition, even though they have no formal requirement to do so, their votes echo the outcome of the Plebiscite.

It means the referendum would not be legally binding.

No timeframe for the vote has yet been given.