To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Take care before tinkering
Share this:
On the strength of his title, Environment Minister Deputy Rob Duhamel might be expected to focus principally on environmental protection. However, his portfolio includes planning, and his latest policy proposal promises the watering down of a seminal document intended, at least in part, to safeguard the Island’s natural assets. That document is, of course, the latest version of the Island Plan.
Deputy Duhamel’s own plan could scarcely be simpler. He would like to amend the plan to permit the development of more sites for building projects, with the aim of increasing the stock of affordable homes.
This is, on the face of it, a laudable goal. The shortage of properties, especially for first-time buyers, is a very regrettable and damaging feature of current Island life. Anything which might ameliorate the situation is likely to win substantial support, especially where rezoning might include derelict glasshouse sites.
But this is a dangerous area, where great caution is vital. We should not forget that the present version of the Island Plan is a scant two years old, that a great deal of work was carried out before it was presented to the States, and that it cannot simply be discarded on a whim.
Green field sites in particular must be spared developers’ attentions. As some wit once observed, they are very valuable because no one is making land anymore. And their value in this Island is even greater than in many other places for the simple reason that there is nowhere into which we can expand beyond our 45 square miles.
It is therefore clear that States Members must think long and hard before they rush to add the seal of approval to Deputy Duhamel’s proposals. Indeed, they might be inclined to think longer and harder than usual in the light of the Deputy’s ministerial record, as revealed by his decision to allow development at Plémont and the controversy over the Co-op’s Charing Cross scheme.
All States decisions are important and require careful consideration of all the issues, but those that result in irrevocable change are of special importance not only in the here and now but for future generations.
Related