PLANS to build 153 apartments on the site of the former planning offices at South Hill have been rejected due to concerns over the scale and mass of the development.
The Planning Committee voted against the scheme by four votes to one, despite it being recommended for approval by officers, with some members encouraging the applicants to tweak and reduce the size of the application, before resubmitting new proposals.
The designs, which were unveiled by the States of Jersey Development Company and architect firm FCBStudios in 2021, were set to include a number of one-, two- and three-bed ‘low-energy’, ‘sustainable’ units, a 15% minimum provision for affordable housing, as well as a redesign of the nearby children’s playground, a courtyard and a new public café.
Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur, who chairs the Planning Committee, felt that the mass of the project was ‘way too big’.
He said: ‘It is an innovative design and it will improve living standards. But I’m afraid the good news finishes there.’
St Martin Deputy Steve Luce rejected the development on the basis that it is ‘too much and too high’.
‘It breaks the horizon line from almost every angle, I accept it will be impossible to hide the development but eight storeys is too high. It does not sit well within the surroundings.
‘It needs some tweaks and needs to come back again,’ he said.
