08/03/2012 BBC Channel Islands News

Hello and welcome to Channel Island news. On the programme tonight.

Plane sailing, are Guernsey's harbours and airports a step closer

to being commercialised? Staying out for summer. Why more of us are

ditching holidays abroad and staying at home instead. And tanked

up. The rather unusual commuter that got caught up in this

A significant step has been taken towards commercialising Guernsey's

airport and harbours but will it end up costing passengers more? The

States agreed to spend �100,000 to investigate the pros and cons of

commercialisation. We would be lost without it. Whether it is to get

people here, or to get away. But would we get more from the airport

if it was commercialised? And run by someone other than the States?

Could it make it more efficient? am not trying to sell it at the

current time on behalf of PSD what we are saying to the community at

the moment is let us investigate this, we will come back with a full

report, warts and all, showing what we believe is the benefit for the

community. The harbour area would be looked at to see if

commercialisation would work here, but not even is convinced this is

the right move for the island, or for the people that use the

facilities. Because there is nothing in it for the people, last

two previous examples of commercialisation have not worked.

They have led to costs rising, for the people of Guernsey, and I have

no confidence at all, that commercialising the haar bours the

airport will lead to anything different. 90% of our goods come

through the ports, and higher charges there will lead to higher

consumer goods in the sho. Only one set of people are going to pay for

that and that is the people of the community. It will be at least

another year's wait before the work is complete, when we will know

whether the major changes are just the start of it. Some travel agents

in the Channel Island say they are concerned holiday bookings have

been slow this year. The number of people visiting the island was up

last year compared to 2010 but fewer people are booking summer

holidays from Guernsey and Jersey. Are we following the trend of

staying at home? They vinvested in attracting visitors to the island

and now it seems to be paying off. Jersey Tourism has released figures

today that visitor numbers were up, 0.6% last year. Guernsey has seen a

growth in short stay tourist, day trippers and business visitors. But

while this is good news for local travel agents some are concerned

there haven't been many bookings this year. People aren't so anxious

to book, the traditional January, February, booking period we used to

experience doesn't happen as much as it used to. We are finding that

people are leaving it a lot later, before making their final decision

on where they are going, they are looking to see and seek out the

best deals round, So are more people waiting for the late deals

are or they opting for holidays at home including us in the Channel

Island. This -- Channel Island. Very businessy it is always

businessy our full membership is sold out before we open. This year

we have had a huge amount more, as you can see we are struggling to

process them all in time to get them out to people. We have a lot

of people who renew year on year, we have seen a lot of new members

this year as well. People who feel it is good value, they come, they

have to come five times and the membership is paid for. So while

our attractions are doing their job with the tourists, they are make us

think twice about going abroad. Jersey's Housing Minister says

people aren't getting the help they need. Deputy Andrew green says

islanders living in appalling conditions. Social housing rents

are to go up 20%. The Deputy Green says the extra money will be used

for viest vital maintenance to improve socialle -- social housing.

Plans for a new slaughterhouse in Guernsey have been approved. The

States today supported a proposal to build a �2 million facility at

Longue Hougue. The current building has been used for about 150 years.

Environmentam health advised it should close by April. It could

mean more opportunities for local farmers to export their meat. The

new facility is due to be ready early next year. The Managing

Director of Condor Ferries has resigned. Simon Edsall, who has

been in the post for three year, is said to be pursuing other career

opportunities. The board has started the search for a new group

head. Next tonight is Guernsey's prison running out of space?

Politicians in the island have been discussing the number of prisoners

this week, some feel there maybe a need to expand the prison's

capacity. Not everybody is convinced though. More than 100

people are locked up in Guernsey's prison and some feel that the

States should be considering expanding its ka pa -- capacityment

From a political point of view our first priority has to keep the

community safe, and see justice carried out. And if that means

looking again at increasing the prison ka Kaspi -- capacity,

building a separate women's prison or constructing open prison, which

Channel Island might share, then we have to look at that. Behind the

fence and the bashed -- barbed wire there are 118 prisoners here and

some would say when a maximum capacity is 137 that could be a

cause for concern. The minister responsible for prisons here in

Guernsey has told me today that he doesn't think of it as too much of

a problem. Numbers in the prison at the moment are fairly high, but we

do have contingency plans and a large proportion of the present

contingency in our prison are due to be released during 2012. You

have to look at each personal sentence plan to see whether there

is a crisis or not. There is definitely not a crisis regarding

numbers in our prison. So while the figures may appear high, the

authorities are hoping that once many prisoners have been released

back into the community, there will be plenty of space for others to

occupy. You are watching the BBC in the Channel Island. Later o in

Spotlight, we will be live at the special screening of a Hollywood

film about a family who bought a Devon zoo. Make sure you stay tuned.

David is here with the forecast as well. Street parties are to be

throne in Sark to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. It is one event to

mark the occasion. The main celebrations will take place in

June. Highlights will include a visit by Prince Charles and the

Duchess of Cornwall. Next, tonight, did you see a tank driving along

Jersey's roads this morn something if you did, it wasn't a new brand

of car that is out, but a new traction, the replica German tank

has been built especially for the war tunnel, it was built by a team

in Sussex and took ten weeks to make. She made the voyage to Jersey

by ferry last night to start her new life. Not quite the arrival we

are used to seeing at Jersey harbour, and not quite the sight

commuters expected to see on the roads during the morning rush hour

today. But, you can't really ignore Hedwig. She is a replica World War

II German tank and will be a permanent fixture to theier si war

tunnels. We brought it here from a decision we made last summer after

speaking with visitors about what they would like to experience in

Jersey war tunnels. We were looking for a centrepiece, and it didn't

take long to think of a centre piece which is Hedwig. The 16 tonne

vehicle came over on the ferry last night. And travelled to her final

destination this morning. But just what is Hedwig the road hog likely

-- like to drive? They said the roads would be closed. All I can

see is through a little box. Itst like looking through a letter box.

All I could see were cars and lorries and cyclist, I can't see on

the left hand side and I totally have to rely on my commander,

Martin, and he is screaming at me through a headset, left. I have to

trust him. Hedwig has a new home after an eventful journey. Those

responsible for bring her over hope she will continue to generate

interest just like when she arrived today. You wouldn't want to mess

with that. Let us get a weather with that. Let us get a weather

look now. Hello, good evening. A lot of fine weather to look forward

to across the Channel Island for the next few days. It is dry, and

even a bit of sunshine every now and then but on the whole there is

a lot of cloud. Despite the fact we have a strong area of high pressure

moving right over us, over the next 24-hours. It is with us for

tomorrow, and as we move into the weekend. As a strong feature it

will hold the weather fronts as bay. Trapped within the high with little

movement, will be a fair cover of cloud. For the first half of the

night a fair amount of clear sky so temperatures well into single

figures. Lighter winds, the winds picking up through the day tomorrow,

but not overly strong, and tomorrow is largely fine. It maybe we have

patchy cloud spoiling the sunshine but sunny spells possible,

temperatures up to 11, 52 Fahrenheit and light to moderate

west or south-westerly winds. So for the coastal waters forecast the

winds south-westerly mainly fair with generally good visibility. On

to the times of high water at St Peter Port that is 7.08. And for

our surfer, it will be on the choppy side with the onshore breeze

but not very big the waves. If anything it becomes flat as we move

into the weekend. So one to two feet at best tomorrow. The weekend

is a dry one, very light winds, on Saturday for instance we will have

the remnants of an old weather system which may keep it cloudy

throughout the day, but that cloud will break and thin as the high

pressure moves over us, for much of the day on Sunday and Monday fine

dry and relatively warm. We are looking at temperatures of possibly

12 or 13 degrees. Notice also we draw in easterly winds, which