Sark politicians agree to spend £175,000 on design plans for new electrical system

Kate Prout reports from Sark...

Politicians in Sark have voted in favour of moving forward with major plans to build a new electricity system for the island.

At Wednesday's meeting of Chief Pleas (17 January), Conseillers voted 10 to 1 to approve a proposition which means £175,000 will now be spent on a full set of designs.

According to documents on the Chief Pleas' website, the money for the designs will come from Sark's general reserves.

The company providing the designs will be Infinite Renewables Ltd (IRL), in partnership with Sancus Utilities.

The whole project is estimated to cost around £8.6 million, which could be funded by a private investment firm or a Guernsey States loan.

This latest announcement follows last week's public meeting which saw around a fifth of the island's population attend a discussion about the plans.