Alderney States Member criticises further delays to airport redevelopment plans
ITV Channel presenter Jonathan Wills speaks to Alderney States Member Alex Snowdon about ongoing delays to the work. Broadcast live on Wednesday 4 September
An Alderney politician says further delays to the Airport's redevelopment "are very serious for the community".
Alex Snowdon wants Guernsey States Members to prioritise a debate over how to move forward as the price tag for the existing plans rises to £37 million - deemed "unviable and unaffordable" by the Policy and Resources Committee.
However, he says discussions have taken a back seat on the order paper after years of back and forth over how to fix Alderney Airport's crumbling infrastructure.
Mr Snowdon says: "It's very serious for the people that live in Alderney and we also need to give businesses on island confidence so we really do need to get spades in the ground.
"Can kicking is just not acceptable, we were told the debate would be by the end of this year and now we learn it's potentially going to be just before the Guernsey Election."
He adds: "Safety of the runway comes into it, there's hardly any tarmac there and it's getting patched up all the time.
"The maintenance costs are tremendous, we're hearing nearly weekly work on the Alderney runway. To keep on patching up something that needs to be completely replaced is wasting taxpayers' money."
"We desperately need that infrastructure to start moving forward and have that runway operational, fit for purpose for the future."
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