SEVERAL plans have been submitted to demolish redundant glasshouses and replace them with housing, while returning some of the land to agricultural use.
The schemes have been lodged after States Members voted against an amendment to the Bridging Island Plan, lodged by Senator Kristina Moore, which would have removed restrictions on building on some derelict-glasshouse sites to allow 50% of the land to be used for affordable housing with the rest being used for agricultural purposes.
In St Clement, Kevin Hervé, of Les Tours Farm, has submitted plans to demolish three glasshouses, a packing shed and other commercial buildings while returning much of the land to agriculture. The proposal also includes the construction of two commercial warehouses, as well as five three-bedroom and two four-bedroom homes.
Documents attached to the planning application said that a busy horticultural business, which supplied vegetables to UK supermarkets, had operated from the site until 2008 but that changes in the industry had rendered the operation unviable.
The application adds that the glasshouses have been unused since 2013 and that parts of them have fallen into disrepair. However, the packing shed has been used by AgriCo, an agricultural vehicle business which intends to continue operating from the site.
‘The owners of Les Tours have been looking for alternative uses for the site for some years that enable revenues to be generated to maintain the land and buildings at the site. The condition and age of glasshouses at Les Tours reflects the growth of the nursery. They are now all unusable for modern agriculture,’ a statement attached to the planning application said.
‘The need for homes is well understood and the development at Les Tours allows for the removal of dangerous unusable glasshouses, the restoration of landscape and agricultural land on a brownfield site.’
In St Lawrence, Roland Cooke has applied for permission to demolish two glasshouses, returning most of the land to agriculture, while converting an outbuilding into a one-bedroom self-catering tourism let.
A planning statement attached to the application refers to the refusal of plans to build 27 two- and three-bedroom self-catering holiday lets on the site of Tamba Park. MS Planning, which compiled the document, said the scheme could help to reverse the decline of tourism and urged planning officers to approve the scheme.
‘Twelve months on, Tamba Park has closed its doors and is no longer a tourist attraction, which is a significant loss to the tourism infrastructure. Had this self-catering village been approved, it is anticipated that it would have been implemented and the Tamba Park attraction would still be open today for the benefit of locals and visitors alike,’ the statement read.
Also in St Lawrence, at Broadfields Vinery, three glasshouses could be demolished with much of the land being returned to agriculture and a three-bedroom home being built.
A scheme to demolish around 2,700sq/m of redundant greenhouses at Jardin du Hogard, in St Martin, and build a four-bedroom bungalow in its place is also being considered.
