PLANNING bureaucracy needs to be eased to help new businesses set up in town, according to the Constable of St Helier, who wants parish leaders to have more powers.
Simon Crowcroft said the case for a devolved town council was ‘stronger than ever’, with new businesses, including restaurants, facing setbacks caused by red tape.
Both the Watchmaker wine bar in the old Jersey Potteries shop in Halkett Place, and the Brasserie Colmar, which is moving into the former Beghins shop, ran into issues applying to change the business use of their premises.
They are among a number of hospitality venues to open on the site of former shops.
Mr Crowcroft said that the issue highlighted how devolution of powers could speed up decision-making, adding that he planned to ask a parish assembly to approve the development of a new town council, having run an experimental shadow version for the last two years.
The proposed elected new body could gain devolved powers in areas such as licensing, planning, running events and parking.
‘With the new brasserie at Beghins they have got permission from Planning now but it was a long, slow and complicated process,’ he said.
‘Especially in the current economy, businesses want to move quickly and we want investors to move quickly. The case for devolving this power to the parish, I think, is stronger than ever.
He added: ‘I’m planning to take a proposal to the parish assembly on 9 March for a town council, after discussing it with the roads committee and other parish bodies.
‘If parishioners like the idea then I will take it to the States as a proposition. This will need to go before the next States Assembly for approval, so it will be an issue for the election.’
Bruno Santos-Costa, who runs the recently opened Watchmaker, said the red tape he faced when opening the new wine bar could put people off starting businesses.
In an interview in today’s The Business, Mr Santos-Costa said: ‘The process of applying to change a building’s use is extremely convoluted and really should be simplified.’
He added: ‘It isn’t overly inviting at the moment for anyone planning to launch their own business and the law is written in a way which makes it very difficult for laymen to understand. It really should be rewritten.’
Meanwhile, town centre manager Connor Burgher said: ‘The town centre has to evolve over time and there are certain hurdles that you have to get over. It can take time and change of use is one of those hurdles.
‘We saw that when Beghins had to change its use – that took months. People can have to invest a lot of time and work in making things happen, and it would help if the process was quicker.’
Mr Crowcroft said reallocating powers more effectively would enable him to do his job better in supporting businesses.
‘With things like licensing and planning it will be quicker for the parish to do it and less work for the States Assembly and Jurats, who have better things to deal with,’ he said.
‘I’ve also often had people contact me about issues in St Helier, such as noise and nuisance, and I can’t do anything about it because it is the minister who had responsibility.
‘So I have responsibility and no power to deal with these things. The other Constables have similar issues and agree that there should be more power for the parishes.’
