Man who ‘spoke to his plants instead of his wife’ gets permission for a greenhouse

Man who ‘spoke to his plants instead of his wife’ gets permission for a greenhouse

Cameron McLatchie, who lives in Parcq de l’Oeillère in St Brelade, appeared before the panel this week and said whichever way the decision went, he would ‘rest with it’.

‘I was saying to my neighbours earlier, I must first lodge an objection – my wife is not in favour of this,’ he said.

‘The reason my wife is not in favour is that in my previous house, I had a 70-foot conservatory, a 30-foot greenhouse and a 40-foot polytunnel and I spent all my time in these three places and spoke to the plants rather than speaking to my wife.

‘I am delighted with where we are now but I miss my plants. I would really like to put a greenhouse in the opposite corner of the property but there’s a restriction on building there.’

Mary Austin, who lives adjacent to Mr McClatchie’s house, said that the greenhouse would impact on their view over St Ouen’s Bay, large areas of which are protected as part of Jersey’s Coastal National Park, and raised concerns about how much of the property had already been developed on.

Deputy Rowland Huelin went against the planning officer’s recommendation for approval, saying that it was another part of a sensitive area that was being ‘eroded’.

But panel chairman Deputy Russell Labey, Constable Deidre Mezbourian and Deputy Jeremy Maçon, all approved the proposals – noting that although they were aware of the potential impact of the property, no one in Jersey ‘had a right to a view’.

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