West deputies ‘led attack on PSD to hold up airport work’
Friday 7th May 2010, 2:29PM BST.
THE vote of no confidence in Public Services is driven in part by a desire to sabotage the airport development, according to Deputy Tony Spruce.
The PSD member was responding to calls for all members of the board to be forced to stand for re-election, saying that the Western deputies behind it had vested interests.
Deputy Spruce (pictured) is at the heart of the perceived split in PSD after he refused to take part in developing the island’s waste strategy when his favoured incinerator option was dismissed by the States.
The motion, led by Deputy David De Lisle, said the split in the board provided a poor platform for progress. Deputy Spruce responded with a letter to the Guernsey Press.
‘This motion is motivated by self-interest and other matters,’ he said.
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Mr Spruce
Ever heard the saying ‘When you’re in a hole it’s best to stop digging’ ?
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Thought Spruce was going to resign.
Why do I get the feeling Spruce is a walking wooden spoon…
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Good to hear the proposed airport expansion has been ‘sabotaged’, and may it continue to be for evermore. Expanding the airport would further destroy Guernseys living conditions and is the worst thing that could happen.
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what airport expansion. I thought they were just resurfacing the “past it’s sell by date” runway and renewing the aircraft parking pan. not that 60year old concrete ever needs renewing.
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Come on now Tony
Lets stop attempting to muddy the waters and deflect the issue.
The no-confidence vote is because you and your fellow PSD board members are inept, in too many ways I can be bothered to list.
You remind me of the advert from the 80′s, “you cant sing, you cant play and you look awful, your gonna go a long way”
Well, you’ve had your journey, the public are onto you now as well, we all know now you cant sing or play, so move over for somebody else to have a go at looking awful.
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This sounds,to me, like a desperate man trying to find any excuse to stay in a well paid job where he doesn`t have to do anything he doesn`t want to do.
Get out Spruce.
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I don’t agree about stopping him digging, when it’s deep enough say about 18 feet, then it should fall in over him:
After all deep down he’s a good man.
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I agree, Guernsey shouldn’t expand the airport. It is too small an Island for that to happen. Referring to Loonytoons’s comment ‘not that 60 year old concrete ever needs replacing’. Two of my family work within the air industry. I have been told about the state of the run way, from people who use/see it everyday. It is in a poor state and as Guernsey suffers such bad weathering, it needs to be replaced, an imminent matter. Our runway is small and in the fog,rain etc. Those cracks/bumps can if left, make it dangerous to land.
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So repairing the runway is expanding the airport is it?
As far as I can tell, they are refurbishing the runway, for want of a better expression, for the reasons Anabelle has stated. At what point is any of this “development” actually “airport expansion?”
It looks very much to me like the airport is embarking on a “make do and mend policy”, basically, the “mend” part of it anyway. Not something I would term, “expansion”
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Looking at the comments above it is clear that no one appears to know what exactly is on Public services agenda for the airport runway. Perhaps ita time they made a clear statement as to exactly what they intend for the runway.
I agree Tony Spruce is putting up more smoke screens and has now put the whole PSD in jeopardy by forcing a vote of no confidence. The vote must succeed and those not totally dedicated to producing a new waste strategy for the Island must be removed.
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The PSD proposal is to extend the Runway End Safety Areas (RESAS). To do this the runway is being moved to the West and the airport boundary is increasing so that it takes in the La Mare road and the fields bordering La Mare. The move will mean the Eastern end RESA is also increased,
it will also mean that aircraft are lower on the Western approach.
The runway length, however, will remain the same as it is now.
This is one of the reasons that the proposed alterations are so expensive and in my opinion totally over the top.
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Thank you for explaining that, I must admit I thought that the work purely involved refurbishment of the runway itself. I am not an expert so are unable to comment on the extra safety aspects involved.
Perhaps if the vote of no confidence in the PSD succeeds, the new PSD can take a refreshed look at what is proposed
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