Grouville Deputy Carolyn Labey, who launched the appeal, says that more Islanders are expected to join the campaign this weekend after petition papers were delivered to key sites around the Island.
She has also lodged a proposition calling for States Members to request that Deputy Luce withdraw his challenge to 87-year-old Mary Herold’s successful Royal Court challenge.
Earlier this year the pensioner succeeded for the second time in blocking plans for 17 flats near her listed cottage off Route des Sablons in Grouville, arguing that the proposals were an overdevelopment that had a negative impact on her home.
But following the victory Deputy Luce announced that he would be challenging the Royal Court’s decision in the Court of Appeal, saying that if allowed to stand, the precedent could make future development near historic buildings difficult.
This, Deputy Luce said, was not envisaged by the Island Plan, which sets planning policy.
However, Deputy Labey could derail Deputy Luce’s appeal if her proposition is approved by the States following a debate on 14 July.
The petition, which accompanies her proposal, has been delivered to Grouville Parish Hall, The Fresh Fish Company near La Collette, Rosedale Stores in Gorey Village, Holme Grown and Avenue Fashions at Red Houses.
Deputy Labey said: ‘We had over 100 signatures on the first day.
‘The petition will be available in outlets until 9 July, but then I’ve got to go an collect them to bring them to the States Greffe so they can be prepared for the debate.’
DEVELOPER and development are often dirty words in Jersey – and it is not hard to see why. The past 50 years or so have provided too many examples of inappropriate and ugly buildings which jar with the natural or built environment in which they are situated.
The cinema, club, bar and restaurant complex on the Waterfront is just one example among many which has fuelled the widespread public distrust of the planning system and suspicions that money opens doors which are closed to ordinary householders wanting to convert their attics or build modest extensions.
Islanders have been left wondering where they can turn to stop history repeating itself.
An answer to that perennial question was finally given this week – and it is the right one. Justice and due process, avenues which should be open to all citizens, have put common sense and community before profit and self-
interest.
The hero of the story is Mary Herold, a grandmother from Grouville, who appealed to the Royal Court against a planning decision to allow the building of a large block of flats near Keppel Tower. She argued that the scheme would dwarf her historic cottage and would have a detrimental effect on the coastal area. It was a David and Goliath battle and she won.
The Royal Court has restored a sense of perspective to a planning process which had lost its way.
As Mrs Herold’s grandson Greg Herold-Howes, who represented her in court, is reported as saying, the Island Plan is clear: development should preserve or enhance the environment or setting. Development which fails to meet that criteria should not be approved.
So what has gone wrong? Who has interpreted these words in such a way as to leave the Island with a lasting legacy of spoilt environments and inappropriate developments?
Jersey needs homes and there is an appetite for well-designed, modern properties which can sit as comfortably with their setting as any quaint granite farmhouse. Appropriate development enhances the Island and can be used to build community and improve people’s quality of life.
This week’s court ruling needs to be a line in the sand, a day when the tide turned against those who would put profit before common sense.
