Guernsey Press

Runway extension at an end

THE runway extension finally ran out of tarmac yesterday.

Published

With the Director of Civil Aviation not prepared to contemplate a scheme that had commercial value, not safety, at its heart, the quick fix scheme to make use of the ‘sterile’ ends of the runway was grounded.

Even former pilot Jan Kuttelwascher, the greatest supporter of the plan to use the Runway End Safety Areas to artificially lengthen the runway, had to accept defeat.

It might have taken a lot longer than hoped for (what doesn’t with this States?) but at least it is definitive.

The States’ Trading Supervisory Board’s decision to look no further should be accepted with good grace by the States next month and quickly dispatched.

For there can be no temptation to return to the fiasco that was April’s runway discussion.

That was the debate when deputies perversely decided to hand responsibility for preparing the business case for extending beyond the current airport boundaries to Economic Development but then refused to give them the money to do it.

After nine hours of airy debate, the island was dizzy from all the circling.

But now we have some certainty. Economic Development will not investigate an extension and the RESA plan is dead.

So what next?

Economic Development president Charles Parkinson thinks it could be an election issue.

The 2020 Association, and its founder member Deputy Kuttelwascher, would like to think so. So would some business groups.

That may not be as popular a political message (certainly west of the airport) as it was before the Emas crushable concrete arresting system crumbled. Now people know a 1,700-metre runway means losing roads, fields and even houses.

And it would cost of tens of millions. Exactly how much is arguable, but it is substantial.

Islanders will want to know what they will get for the expense and the disruption. A new Assembly will need to be more willing to spend £700,000 on preparing that business case.