Best tender offer on Alderney runway work ‘unaffordable’
Alderney Airport has been left in limbo again, after tenders for vital improvements came in at £13m. above the expected costs.
The proposals to reconstruct and repair the northern isle’s crumbling runway, as well as build a new terminal and fire station, had a States-agreed budget of just over £24m.
But Policy & Resources yesterday confirmed the best and final offer received for the project was £37m.
‘With such a large difference, the committee agrees with STSB that the project no longer meets its objectives under the original business case,’ a committee spokesman said.
‘The committee’s view is that it is unviable and unaffordable based on the tender response.’
Alderney’s Policy & Finance chairman Nigel Vooght said they were ‘extremely disappointed’ at the high tender costs.
‘This will inevitably cause further delays to the rehabilitation of our runway,’ he said.
In regards to the possibility of scaling back the project to a simpler and cheaper option, such as just repairing the runway, Mr Vooght would not be drawn.
He would also not discuss whether the States of Alderney would debate increasing the £3.5m. already pledged towards the budget.
‘We are not ruling out any options at this stage.’
He added that talks with P&R were ongoing.
He said that it had been hoped originally that work would start this year, but that had been pushed back to next year by the tender process.
‘Now we are not sure when,’ he said.
Policy & Resources stated that it recognised the importance of maintaining suitable airlinks to Alderney and was proposing to revisit options for a smaller scale and more affordable solution that meets safety requirements and provides resilience.
‘In addition, the committee wishes to explore further with the States of Alderney options for Alderney to contribute financially to the rehabilitation of the runway in addition to the terminal,’ a committee spokesman said.
‘This would allow the States of Deliberation to understand the maximum amount that could potentially be available for the overall costs of any option that is pursued going forward.’
Once more detail on a more affordable option and funding solutions are established, the committee plans to return the matter to the States for debate before the end of this term.
