THERE is something “fundamentally wrong” with the decision-making process surrounding major developments in the Island, according to the Housing Minister, who has expressed frustration that plans for a “significant” number of homes in town have been rejected.
Deputy David Warr raised concerns after Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune this week rejected an appeal from developers Le Masurier, who had put forward a £120m plan to regenerate town with more than 200 homes and an “aparthotel”.
The scheme, Les Sablons, would have seen 2.5 acres of land between Broad Street and Commercial Street redeveloped. However, it was initially refused by the Planning Committee last December.
Le Masurier appealed against the decision and the plan was recommended for approval by an independent planning inspector but Deputy Jeune ultimately disagreed, concluding that the height of the scheme along Commercial Street would be significantly in excess of planning guidance, and its scale and mass would be “overbearing and oppressive”.
The scheme is among several major housing projects, including the Jersey Development Company’s proposal to build 139 homes at South Hill, which have failed to gain planning approval in recent years.
The JDC also saw its plans for a multi-million-pound redevelopment of the Waterfront, which would have included around 1,000 homes, thrown out by a panel of politicians comprising Environment Minister Jonathan Renouf, Deputy Jeune and Planning Committee chair Philip Le Sueur.
Deputy Warr described Les Sablons’ potential offering of 238 homes as “significant” and expressed frustration that it had joined the growing list of rejected projects. The Island Plan sets out a requirement to deliver 4,000 new homes over the plan period – to the end of 2025 – with 2,700 of these being non-subsidised open-market homes.
A planning appeal this month heard that the government was failing to hit a target of 800 new homes a year.
Planning consultant John Nicholson presented the dire assessment of current-versus-predicted supply in support of an application to demolish the Hotel Savoy at Rouge Bouillon and replace it with 53 apartments.
Deputy Warr said: “The big challenge is trying to align the strategic imperatives of government with the decisions that are being made.
“There are plenty of reports out there that state we need to deliver more homes, so we know the demand is there. What concerns me is, how is it possible that, on decision day, we find out that a scheme has fallen over?”
He added: “Where were the red flags during the process that would have helped us to get them over the line? There has got to be something fundamentally wrong with the decision-making process around how major schemes are delivered.”
St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson, who sits on the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, said: “I feel it is a complete waste of resources to encourage a developer to do a major proposal and then pull the rug out at the last minute.”
He added that “there needs to be a framework and rules in place” but stressed that developers needed help “to get these schemes done”.
Fellow panel member St Mary Constable David Johnson also said that “policies are in place for a reason”.
However, he noted that: “It costs [developers] a lot of money to get to this stage and one would hope there would have been conversations sounding out these issues beforehand.”
