Air freight charge could threaten papers delivery

NATIONAL newspaper deliveries could be under threat from a new air freight charge, the island’s wholesaler has warned.
The Public Services Department is proposing to levy new charges on mail in and out of the island in an attempt to satisfy a States resolution instructing it to raise an additional £1.77m. from Guernsey’s ports.
A consultation document leaked to the Guernsey Press shows that PSD predicts the planned 4.5p per kilo charge, along with increasing car park charges at the airport, will raise about £500,000 of that.
But national newspaper wholesaler Le Gallez & Son said it was an ill-conceived proposal that would hit three businesses – itself, Guernsey Post and DHL – incredibly hard without generating a huge amount of money for the States. (from GEP)

Nobody likes the constant creep of prices forever upwards but that is what we are going to have to live with.However as this appears to be a NEW charge how was the figure calculated? It seems a bit steep as a starter Tax.

Just another stealth tax in the works.Over taxing is counter productive and ultimately erodes one of the main advantages of setting up and doing business in the Channel Islands.We are already seeing the slow death of small local businesses because of increased overheads, more red tape and aggressive online competition.

When I was selling newspapers from my Tea Rooms customers were charged 1pence extra per paper to cover freightage - what happened to this? I recall one Sunday a lady telling me what a rip off it was to be charged a penny extra - she said emphatically that it didn't happen in Liverpool - and I could not make her understand that her newspapers were not air-lifted into Liverpool!!! I personally never resented the 1p surcharge - it was something we expected - can anyone tell me when it stopped??