A consultation on the project was held last summer, after it was revealed major work was needed.
Property Services general manager David Parish said that existing equipment was 16 years old and reaching the end of its working life.
‘The cremator is also no longer in production as the original manufacturer went into liquidation in the spring of 2014 and as a result spare parts are also becoming harder to source,’ he said.
‘The design also dates back over 20 years, thus increasing the risk of prolonged breakdowns due to the expensive and lengthy manufacture of special spare parts or even permanent breakdown.
‘So the decision was taken to replace the existing facility with two bariatric capable cremators to provide additional resilience and future proof the replacement process.’
Mr Parish said it was not as easy as just taking out the old equipment and putting the new pieces in the same space.
Property Services staff did an islandwide survey of States and private land to find a suitable site for a replacement facility.
Nearly 100 were identified as the right size and this was reduced to 36.
‘Unfortunately any alternative site would require the construction of existing facilities at Le Foulon, so construction costs are significantly greater and private sites have the added cost of acquisition,’ Mr Parish said.
‘So it is not unsurprising that the best value option proposed for the replacement cremator is an extension to the Foulon.’
Full story in today's Guernsey Press
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