Portelet Bay Café, which lodged a planning application for the works in January, say the bank to the rear of their business has repeatedly collapsed since they bought the site in 2014. They explained that following visits from ‘experienced engineers’ they have been told that they need to carry out the work.
In documents attached to the proposal – which is due to be considered by the Planning Committee this week – the applicants say that following those stabilisation works they want to put a terrace at the back of the building, situated above the roof. They say that the cliff would be graded to ‘an acceptable angle’ before ‘geo-textile material’ is used to secure it.
The application has attracted more than 150 comments from members of the public and organisations – a significantly greater number than normally seen with most schemes.
One of those who commented, Nick Steel, of Jersey Business, said the owners of the café had shown an exceptional attitude towards the conservation of the area and that it was important to support them.
‘Jersey Business have worked alongside the owners of the Portelet café since its start in 2014 and have seen the business go from a dilapidated building to a thriving seasonal business, respectfully and sympathetically brought back to life by the owners,’ he said.
‘Jersey needs to support quality contemporary and on-trend businesses such as Portelet Bay Café to continue to improve and develop their business so they can play their part in helping our overall hospitality sector recover in a post-Covid world.’
However, the proposals have drawn several objections, including some from Portelet Bay Management, which oversees the 46 apartments and seven houses above the site.
Michael Stein, of MS Planning, who submitted a letter on behalf of the group in May, highlighted issues that he said would result from an increase in use of the area and the effect of the plans on parking.
He has also taken issue with the scale of the environmental impact of the works and alleged that no survey had been carried out to assess the presence of green lizards in the area.
He said: ‘The environmental investigations are going to take some time and only when that is done can the engineering, planning and design work begin. This will make it impossible to even consider a planning application until this essential work is complete.’
Members of the public are allowed to attend the planning committee meeting which begins at 9.30am at St Paul’s Centre on Thursday.
