- Family hoping to re-build property destroyed by German forces in the Occupation
- Egypt Farm was used to train German soldiers in house-to-house combat and street fighting
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- Read more about the history of the site below
REVISED plans for a new countryside home have been submitted by a family battling to rebuild their property which was destroyed by German forces during the Occupation.
The Rice family, who live in South Africa, are hoping to rebuild a house at Egypt Farm that was used to train German soldiers in house-to-house combat and street fighting in the 1940s.
Last year they submitted a planning application to reconstruct two houses and two outbuildings to create homes, a garage and store and another garage with accommodation above.
However, the Planning Department did not support the project, which went on to be approved by politicians on the then Planning Applications Panel.
Because of the split between the panel and the department, the scheme was reviewed by the then Environment Minister Rob Duhamel, who rejected the application, but indicated a smaller project that had more emphasis on the environment may be acceptable.
A revised scheme was submitted and due to be determined by Mr Duhamel, but a decision was never made as he failed to get re-elected last year.
Those plans were withdrawn with no planning fee charged.
A similar scheme for one home to be rebuilt in the style of the house that existed in July 1943 has now been resubmitted by the Rice family in the hope it will be approved.
Antony Gibb, a heritage and architecture consultant who is representing the family, said: ‘The moral argument over the right of someone to rebuild a property destroyed by an act of war where the property is in the same ownership is, I think, clear.
‘As we move forward we get, by degrees, a little more direction through the planning system with each step that we make.
‘The previous Planning panel approved the building of two houses, that went to the Environment Minister who said he would not like to see two houses, but was minded to consider the building of one house.
‘Now, we’re going back with a revised version of that.’
- After returning to Jersey following the Second World War, the Rice family found their home farm at Egypt had been destroyed following years of use as a military training site.
- Their second home, Blanchard House in St Peter, had also been commandeered by German forces, but was in a better condition.
- On relocating to the west of the Island the Rices found that The Underground Hospital now Jersey War Tunnels had been built in their back garden, furniture and two cars had been stolen, four horses had been killed and the homes interior subject to significant damage.
- The family were offered £2,000 for reconstructing their Trinity home, which amounted to around a seventh of the expected bill. The work was not carried out so the compensation was never awarded.
- The family then decided to move to South Africa to start a new business in order to raise money to rebuild their Trinity home.
AFTER Alfred Rice bought one of the farms at Egypt in 1936, the buildings at the site were renovated by Gordon Rice, his son, for use as family homes.
Heritage consultant Antony Gibb’s paperwork included in the Rices’ planning application reveals that the family left for England at the start of the Second World War and that in 1943 their farm was taken over for the training of German soldiers.
Gordon Rice served with the Jersey Militia and joined the 11th Royal Hampshire Regiment during the war. But on returning to the Island, the family found their homes in ruins.
They moved to St Peter and were offered £2,000 in 1949 by way of compensation from the British government – about a seventh of the estimated Egypt rebuilding cost at the time. However, it is not known whether the money was accepted or paid.
Their Egypt homes were left untouched and the Rice family moved to South Africa, where they continued to pay their parish rates on the land, which also continued to be farmed.
Further troubles were to come the Rices’ way when the South African government introduced strict foreign exchange controls, leaving the family unable to export enough money to fund the reconstruction of their Egypt properties after relocating.
During the early 1970s Lower Egypt Farm, which had been rebuilt by the de la Mare family in around 1950, was sold and planning permission was later given to demolish and rebuild a new house on the same site.
The Rice family approached the then Planning Department in 1984, and on a number of occasions since, about rebuilding their ruined homes. But the department has steadily maintained its refusal on developing the site, which now falls within the Coastal National Park, which carries the strongest presumptions against development.
