“Runway extension must be fully explored”

Thursday 14 February 2019

An architect and pilot has urged Policy & Resources to fully explore a runway extension and to lay out their reasons for recommending against it.

Robert Le Page, who has notched up more than 3,000 flying hours and has 40 years’ experience of working with airport buildings, has written to States deputies advocating a runway extension to 1,700 metres.

Policy & Resources is yet to publish a PwC review of the island's air and sea links which was commissioned in the spring last year.

Pictured: P&R Vice-President Deputy Lyndon Trott has spoken out against investing an "enormous" sum of money further investigating a runway extension that would "probably [require] bulldozing part of St Peters". 

But without that report being completed and published, Mr Le Page said it was "poor governance" to dismiss extending the runway and the different ways it could be achieved. 

“Part A looks at the main options and background considerations which will accompany the P&R policy letter and recommendations

“Part B, which has not been done because P&R are withholding funding, goes on for a further four months or so to evaluate costs and benefits of the agreed/selected main options, and completes the relevant business cases and makes final recommendations. 

"It is imperative that the States of Guernsey agree to provide proper funding for the PwC report Part B and for it to be completed as soon as possible, so as to produce a proper business case evaluation with costs and benefits of alternative ways of achieving the runway extension, as it will be of benefit to the whole island.

“I urge the States of Guernsey to consider and approve the funding necessary. It is very important that Part A, and in due course part B, gets published in full. It must surely be poor governance if such a major infrastructure decision were to be made without a proper professional evaluation of the business cases. 

Mr Le Page said operating from a longer runway would reduce maintenance and operational costs for local airlines and allow standard regional aircraft such as the airbus A319/320 and some Boeing B737 srs to operate here, stimulating demand and more competitive pricing. 

He added: “With Guernsey Airport’s cross winds and changeable weather the longer runway of 1,700 metres is necessary and there is no doubt that it would provide considerable improvement on safety.

“It is a fact that it is possible to achieve the runway extension of 1,700 metres and also part of the stopway within the airfield boundary at the eastern end."

Deputy Trott said some of Mr Le Page's comments were inaccurate.

“It is not correct to say that the Policy & Resources Committee is withholding funding for further work to be undertaken on the business case of a runway extension. The P&R Committee is recommending no further taxpayer money is used on this work, but it will be a decision for the States of Deliberation if it wants to spend further taxpayers’ money on this.”

Deputy Trott made his comments about the impact of an extension on the neighbouring area in the States in December.

He said at the time: “To extend the runway to the length that PwC indicate that it would be a game changer, we would need a huge and complex planning inquiry, probably to bulldoze part of St Peters, and enormous investment on which there may never be a return.

“The Policy & Resources Committee does not believe that the community nor the political body has the appetite for that. Therefore spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of tax payers' money on listing the pros and cons of a set of runway extensions that are unlikely to be built in our lifetime will not be a worthwhile exercise.”

Express has sent some follow-up questions to Policy & Resources.

Pictured top: The future of Guernsey's runway and any extension of it remains uncertain.