The letter will provide an update to the States on the work undertaken since the Assembly debated the issue in April, as well as ask members to delegate part of the decision-making to P&R to accelerate the tender process.
P&R president Lindsay de Sausmarez said her committee recognised the urgency of the project and its importance in maintaining public confidence in Alderney.
She said the States of Alderney’s constructive input had been ‘invaluable’, particularly through its representative on the project board.
‘We look forward to continued collaboration with Alderney to deliver the project as efficiently as possible, including looking at options such as joint funding, resulting in infrastructure that serves the Bailiwick’s interests,’ she added.
In an additional response to Rule 14 questions on the runway asked by Alderney Representative Alex Snowdon, P&R said the planned work would replace the current runway to such an extent that it would be a similar level of work to that of building a new runway.
The patching work being undertaken periodically would only keep the runway operational in the short term, meaning rehabilitation needed to commence as soon as possible in order to keep the airport operational. The design life of the rehabilitated runway would be 15 years – a standard design parameter.
However, the operational lifespan could be much longer.
The committee said it was unable to provide cost estimates of the project at this stage. But it did say it had allocated the States’ Trading Supervisory Board – responsible for maintaining the airfield in Alderney – an additional £460,000 for patch repair work on the runway this year.
The committee added it had not been made aware by the STSB of any further warnings or restrictions from the Office of the Director of Civil Aviation regarding the condition of the runway or wider infrastructure.
‘The committee is aware that the airfield is currently licensed until the end of 2025 and an extension will be subject to a decision by the ODCA,’ it said.
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