THE Environment Minister has not ruled out the possibility of an audit of all redundant and derelict glasshouse sites before the next Island Plan.
Deputy Steve Luce was responding to questions in this week’s States Assembly sitting from his predecessor, Deputy Jonathan Renouf.
The minister said he could “see no reason” why an audit would not be conducted before the next Island Plan – the document which sets out the planning policy for Jersey – in several years’ time.
Deputy Renouf was particularly curious to hear about the plans for an audit given that it was his own suggestion.
He called for it in a written piece responding to a JEP editorial which claimed that redundant glasshouses were a “blot on the Island’s landscape”.
Debate has raged since a number of green fields were rezoned for housing in the Bridging Island Plan but these glasshouses sites – for which planning permission is difficult to acquire – were categorised as “developed land”.
Deputy Renouf proposed that a “way forward” would be to “categorise glasshouse sites”.
He wrote: “When I was minister, I proposed (to my ministerial colleagues) an audit of glasshouse sites that would examine all redundant sites to establish such matters as: their planning history, suitability for other agricultural uses (for example, medicinal cannabis), proximity to services (mains water, electricity, telecoms, sewage) and transport and relationship to existing settlements.
“This would have helped establish which sites would be most appropriate for development.”
He added: “Dealing with redundant glasshouses will be an issue for the next Island Plan to resolve.
“It makes sense to prepare for that plan by initiating an audit of all glasshouse sites in the Island so that properly informed decisions can be taken when the next plan comes forward.”
In the States Assembly, Deputy Renouf further said an audit would allow Members to approach the debate about glasshouses in a “finer-grained way”.
Deputy Luce responded by saying that when he was previously Planning Minister, he carried out a similar piece of work.
He added: “I can see no reason why that work wouldn’t be updated before next Island Plan debate, which will be in three or four years’ time.
“I can only share the frustration that many other States Assembly members and Islanders have that building on these sites is not allowed, but there is a policy that we must follow.”
Kevin Hervé, who operated tomato-producing Les Tours Farm in St Clement for decades, has urged the government to ease the rules about redeveloping derelict glasshouse sites after a 23-year battle with the planning department left his family with mounting debt and an uncertain future.
A recent application to develop the site into seven houses and storage units was rejected – despite the plans proposing to restore over half the site to agricultural use.
His complaints came after officials clarified rules for their redevelopment following a consultation earlier this year that indicated support for allowing some sites to be used differently in “exceptional circumstances”.
