Guernsey Ports is aiming to move ahead with plans to repair or replace the gates of Guernsey’s largest marina, at a cost of up to £10.7m.
The QEII Marina was built in the mid-1980s, so the gates are now more than 40 years old.
Replacing them could cost between £5.2m and £10.7m, while repairing them could cost as much as £8.4m, said the States’ Trading Supervisory Board, which oversees Guernsey Ports.
STSB is now planning to ask the States to approve the work but said it will not suggest a preferred option.
Instead, it will invite potential contractors to propose their own solution and would chose the one “which can deliver the best value”, according to Deputy Mark Helyar, STSB President.
Could get worse
The QEII has the deepest moorings in the island and accommodates more than 700 local boats.
Recent surveys have suggested there’s a high risk the gates could fail completely at some stage, which would mean the marina would be about a metre shallower at low tide.
It could also mean boats had less time to get in and out.
Deputy Helyar said the marina did not have “sufficient berths to meet demand for moorings – and if the QEII gates were to fail that situation would become much worse”.
The STSB said Guernsey Ports did not have enough income to fund the repairs without “a significant impact on other essential maintenance projects”.
So it proposed half the money would come from the General Revenue Reserve, with the rest coming from a loan from the States.