2025 Guernsey Rally to go ahead

Organisers are confident the event can be staged in lanes around the island in February 2025.

The Guernsey Rally has been going since 2018 but this year it was shelved, due in part to the financial and staffing impact of organising multiple road closures. The States had warned of this in September 2023:

'There are a number of events which require many hundreds of hours of staff time to consider applications, review risk assessments and manage feedback from members of the public and businesses. This is especially the case for new events and events that may divide public opinion.'

'Multiple road closures in this context means events where three or more road closures are required and where there will be a significant amount of administration due to the need for public consultation, reviewing objections, and/or consideration of risk assessments.'

At the beginning of the 2023 event some islanders staged sit down protests at the noise and environmental impact of the event.

Image from Dale Crowsley

But race chairman Karl Marshall says it'll be back for February 2025:

"We're planning to go ahead, we've been told we can do it."

And he says he's been liaising with the Traffic and Environment and Infrastructure Committees:

"We've worked together on how to organise it and to make it free flowing with the paperwork and correspondence with the residents."

The exact route hasn't been mapped out and currently there are a number of alternatives. Karl says the event is a boost to tourism:

"It brought in over £100,000 in 2023. At the moment this is what we need to bring our tourism levels back up."

He says drivers are enthusiastic:

"They had worries it was gone forever. I think they're really happy, and yeah, there'll be a lot of entries for next year."