ENVIRONMENT Minister Jonathan Renouf has backed his assistant minister following her rejection of a £120m plan for more than 200 homes and an aparthotel in town.
Last month, Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune threw out an appeal by property company Le Masurier for its Les Sablons project, which would have built on mostly cleared land between Broad Street and Commercial Street.
This prompted St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft, who had publicly supported the scheme, to criticise what he said was Deputy Jeune’s “inexperience”.
After news broke of the rejection, Chief Minister Kristina Moore issued a statement saying she was “extremely disappointed” to learn that the project has been rejected at the appeal stage, “particularly given that it has been recommended for approval by an independent planning inspector”.
This itself prompted criticism, with some backbench politicians raising questions about the level of unity within the Council of Ministers. In the States Assembly yesterday, Deputy Renouf took the opportunity to publicly express his support for his assistant.
Answering a question from St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson on whether he intended to review Deputy Jeune’s decision, Deputy Renouf said the planning application was still live and could still be appealed in the Royal Court.
However, he added: “I wish to make it clear that Deputy Jeune acted with complete probity, carefully, with great diligence. She did nothing wrong and she has my full support.”
Deputy Renouf said that while there was no formal training for ministers when making planning decisions, “full and comprehensive” advice from officers was available.
However, he added that, ultimately, the decision came down to the minister’s judgment or that of his or her deputy.
Later, Deputy Moore also faced a question on what advice she had considered regarding the ministerial code of conduct before she had made her comments, after she was accused of breaking the code by former Planning Committee chairman Alastair Layzell, who helped introduce it.
Responding to the States question, Deputy Moore said: “I always seek to ensure that I act in accordance with the code of conduct. My officials would advise me if I was to take any action in breach of that. I do not consider that I had breached the code of conduct and practice and I do not believe any advice to the contrary.”
She added: “It’s quite clear that I was disappointed by the decision as the leader of this government. My job is to ensure that the team, which operates within government, takes decisions and shares priorities of the entire government.
“At the beginning of this process, we went through that process of agreeing our priorities for this government. One of those is a relentless focus on housing.
“I cannot make it clearer that housing is at the root of so many issues in the Island, and it is the public’s expectation that we deliver a greater level of housing. My team should take decisions that deliver on those priority.”
Facing further questions, Deputy Moore agreed that the integrity of the planning process was vital and should not be undermined.
