THE viability of approved plans to create over 200 homes and an “aparthotel” in the centre of town has been put a risk because the scheme got stuck in the planning process for two years, the developer behind the project has said.
Le Masurier managing director Brian McCarthy said that the cost of the scheme had risen significantly while they waited for a decision. He added that there was no start date for construction of the Les Sablons development – and that timescales needed to be “reassessed” following the recent approval of the plans. He also called for planning applications which provide “economic and social benefit to the Island” to be prioritised over others.
The plans for 238 apartments and a 103-room aparthotel built on 2½ acres between Broad Street and Commercial Street were finally given the go-ahead in December when then Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet signed a ministerial decision.
The move brought to an end a long planning saga in which the application was initially refused by the Planning Committee – a panel of politicians – in December 2022. Le Masurier appealed against the decision, making its case to an independent planning inspector who ultimately recommended that the appeal should succeed – but in a surprise and controversial move Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune rejected the appeal. Her rejection was eventually quashed, as the government announced that ministers would not contest the appeal.
Speaking to the JEP, Mr McCarthy said that the delay had caused further issues with the project.
He said: “The world has changed in the two years since we submitted the application. Where these plans were viable two years ago, we’ve got to have a period of reflection now to assess how we proceed.
“House prices have stagnated; costs have increased; the cost of boring, particularly, is at a generational high.
“Because of those delays in planning approval, we will need to reassess the development appraisal and the timescale, which is causing even further delays in the project. That all needs to be reviewed now.”
Mr McCarthy added that had the development initially been approved in December 2022, when the Planning Committee rejected it, the site would already be under construction.
He has previously called for a review of the Island’s “flawed” planning system.
“The government should give priority to major projects like ours which meet almost all of their common strategies’ priorities,” he said. “Instead, our application was treated like any other application, when it should have been determined within a 13-week period. After 13 weeks, no one had even looked at our application.”
He referred to a previous independent review of the Island’s planning services, completed in 2023 by chief planner to the Scottish government Jim Mackinnon.
Mr McCarthy said: “That report clearly states that the planning system is broken, and I believe a number of his recommendations have not been moved forward.
“If all of his recommendations were implemented, it would go some way to improving the system.”
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about how the Les Sablons development will make 15% of its homes “affordable” after it was previously stated that such a requirement was “unviable”.
Reform Jersey leader Sam Mézec was responsible for a policy – requiring 15% of homes in developments of 50 or more dwellings to be designated “affordable” – being included in the Bridging Island Plan.
Writing on social media, Deputy Mézec said: “Since the requirement to reserve 15% of these is now being enforced, why on earth wasn’t it front and centre of the announcement on this? It’s GOOD news! This lot don’t even know how to win properly.”
However, Mr McCarthy said that the 15% figure was “negotiable” and that planning guidance directed developers to discuss with the Housing Minister how many homes could be provided to the assisted-purchase scheme.
He added: “We met with the Housing Minister and we started negotiations on what the provision of assisted purchasing was, which has given us comfort that it’s not a blanket 15%. We are in a position to negotiate that number, which gives us confidence.”
The government is expected to pick up a bill for legal fees running into tens of thousands of pounds that Le Masurier incurred during the appeal process.
