Monday 13 January 2014
Environment Department Response to media enquiry from Guernsey Press.
Guernsey Press enquiry:
We will be driving round checking the condition of coastal car parks today
Is the department aware of any coastal car parks in particular need of resurfacing?
What is the department's budget for maintaining coastal car parks?
How does the department prioritise this maintenance? And when is the best time to carry out the work?
Can the department explain again why it doesn't just tarmac over coastal carparks?
What are the main factors that lead these car parks to deteriorate?
This would be for tomorrow's paper
Environment Department Response:
The annual check of all the coastal car parks maintained by the Environment Department is commencing this week. Car parks are also checked, and repairs carried out, throughout the year subject to the budget being available.
The annual budget for maintaining the 40 coastal car parks is currently £15,000.
The car parks are prioritised based on popularity/use and on the nature and urgency of repairs required. The Department will seek to complete the planned works before the Easter Holidays.
The majority of the surfaces are made up of rolled stone chippings and can only be repaired by reprofiling the material. Therefore, this method of repair is not only the most suitable but the only method of repair for this type of surface.
The Department has investigated alternative surfaces as a means to reduce annual maintenance costs.
For example the following two options for alternative surfaces were costed for Grande Harve last year:
1) Gridforce - £30,000 - a plastic cellular matting filled with aggregate over an aggregate base and
2) Tarmac over an aggregate base - £53,000.
The cost of reprofiling the car park is approximately £800. This is normally required once a year. Therefore, were a more durable surface installed and assuming no further maintenance was required the payback periods would be 37.5 years and 66 years respectively. Such long payback periods do not represent good value for money.
Contact Information:
Environmental Services Unit
Environment Department
Tel: 717200
