The decision to grant the appeal from Conway Tower Properties Limited means the company has now been given the go-ahead to develop the Wayside Café site and build two five-bedroom properties with separate staff accommodation as well as a one-bedroom apartment and a two-bedroom apartment.
Under the plans, the Wayside Café will also be redeveloped with a three-bedroom apartment above it, while Jono’s surf shop will be renovated and an adjacent warehouse, a line of single-car garages, beach shack-style properties on the seafront and Sea Breeze, a property on Mont Sohier, will all be demolished.
The plans had been rejected by the Planning Committee last October on the basis that they infringed the Island Plan due to over-development of the shoreline. But yesterday, following an appeal by the applicant, the decision was overturned after independent planning inspector Jonathan King’s recommendation was backed by Environment Minister Steve Luce.
Michael Stein, of MS Planning, which acted as agent for the scheme, said that he was ‘obviously delighted’ with the decision.
‘We put forward a very good scheme and there are great benefits to the community as part of the proposals,’ he said.
‘First of all it provides greater access to the site, which doesn’t exist at the moment. It opens Conway Tower up to the public.
‘There are also some highway improvements and a bus stop and shelter. Just for that, it is a very good scheme.’
He added: ‘If you think about it, it all started about four or five years ago when out client approached us in 2013. So it has been a long time in the making but we finally got there.’
The scheme has faced fierce opposition from local residents, in particular the St Brelade’s Bay Residents’ Association, which has previously said it will lodge a third-party appeal if the plans are approved.
