THE Café Romany site at Grève de Lecq is being advertised with approved plans for offers over £5 million – and over £11 million for the completed development.
Estate agents Wilsons Knight Frank listed the scheme, which will see the seaside café at Grève de Lecq knocked down and replaced with a four-bedroom home and 100-seat eatery, on their website – describing it as a ‘stunning “new build” beach-front opportunity’.
Meanwhile, St Mary Constable John Le Bailly has said that the States Assembly ‘missed their chance’ to purchase the site.
The plans, which were approved by the Planning Committee in January, also involve the reinstatement of some of the duneland on the site of the new café and the removal of the majority of the car park.
Mr Le Bailly initially raised concerns over the scheme last year, claiming it was a ‘disappointment to the parish’ – on the basis that it was a private development and that there would be a ‘vast’ loss in the amount of parking available.
‘It is going to cause severe problems,’ he said.
‘The States could have seen this coming and bought it to preserve the car park.’
He added that he feared the new commercial space might eventually be turned into more residential units.
‘The States missed their chance to guarantee that it wouldn’t be abused, as such, in the future.
‘I am very disappointed in the way our Planning Department works,’ he added.
The honorary chair of the Jersey National Park, Jim Hopley, said he ‘sympathised’ with Mr Le Bailly over the loss of parking, but questioned what the States would have done with the site if they had purchased it.
‘When the original application went in there were pros and cons to it and there was already a substantial café, a bunker and a car park.
‘There are elements in the new build that are sympathetic to the area,’ he said.
‘What would the States do if they did buy it? From our perspective there was enough done on the site to actually improve it,’ he added.
Clifford Wilson, of Wilsons Knight Frank, said: ‘It has served a popular purpose in the past and I respect that, but I believe the development may very well have less of a visual impact than the current, somewhat untidy, huddle of buildings.’
The listing description reads: ‘Set directly overlooking the golden sands of the beautiful bay, planning consent is approved for a magnificent detached “new build” family home together with a separate commercial demise.
‘Of dramatic contemporary architectural design, this most exceptional future residence will provide a generous range of accommodation, including a stunning beach-facing master bedroom suite with terraces and a further three excellent bedrooms.
‘Multiple living areas with the addition of a cinema and gym – subject to further planning application.’
It continues: ‘Extensive site area with dual access driveways to each demise. Seaside being access via a unique tunnel driveway with ample parking and garages while remaining extremely screened from the commercial element.
‘The planning-approved commercial demise of striking complementary architectural design will provide a circa 100-seat eatery internally and externally, together with all facilities.’
The project is not the first seaside-build in the Island to become controversial – with plans to transform the dilapidated Water’s Edge Hotel in Bouley Bay into a luxury house also making headlines over the last year.
