Commissioner Sir Philip Bailhache said that there was ‘a worrying difference’ between the advice given by a planning officer to an applicant and how the minister approached the planning application.
Sir Philip spoke out during a two-day appeal hearing this week involving Alpine Contractors Ltd. The company is appealing against Environment Minister Freddie Cohen’s decision to refuse its application to build 54 houses on field 1248, near the Channel Television site.
A planning officer recommended the scheme for approval but the planning applications panel, comprising a group of politicians, refused it. Because their decision was contrary to the officer’s advice, the decision went to Senator Cohen, who also rejected the application.
On Wednesday Sir Philip, who was sitting with Jurats Morgan and Marett-Crosby, said that the advice from the planning officer seemed to be running against the policy decisions that the minister made and the policies set out in the Island Plan. ‘That observation is troubling the court at the moment,’ he said.
The appeal has yet to be determined.
