A NEW drainage tank in St Peter will provide capacity for up to 1,000 homes as well as unlocking several affordable housing sites across the north and west of the Island, government officials have told the JEP.
The large subterranean tank – which is due to developed on land off Rue de St Clement near Jersey Airport, taking up around a third of the field – is expected to be 25-metres across and 20-metres deep with a capacity for 6,100 cubic metres of run-off rainwater and sewage.
Construction work for the tank – due to last 18 months – was expected to begin in August but will be later than this due to the “large number” of pre-construction planning conditions imposed, including assessing the impacts of building a large tank in proximity to residential properties and the Airport, according to Tom Le Gallais, lead engineer.
The land will have to be returned to agricultural use after construction works are complete, Mr Le Gallais highlighted.
There will also be wider upgrades to the St Peter’s Village drainage network, with Mr Le Gallais describing a “large amount of work” which needed to be done.
The Planning Committee unanimously backed a planning application for the tank – which was due to be even larger with a 24-metre depth and a 7,500 cubic metre capacity but has been revised down – at a meeting last month.
Several affordable housing developments on fields rezoned as part of the Bridging Island Plan were dependent on the approval of the tank, including a significant development of 128 homes in St Peter which was approved by the committee last Thursday, 42 homes in St Peter already under development and 37 homes in St Ouen, which were approved at the same committee hearing as the tank.
The drainage tank is expected to provide additional capacity for up to 1,000 homes which head of liquid waste Duncan Berry said would help “future proof” the Island’s network and allow for population growth.
A lack of capacity has not only hampered the development of new affordable homes but even property extensions, according to Mr Berry, who said they were forced to put in objections to anything north of St Peter due to a lack of capacity.
Mr Berry previously told the Planning Committee – a group of politicians which decides on major applications – that there were many frustrated residents in both St Peter and St Ouen were were left unable to carry out work on their homes.
Mr Berry told the JEP he believed they’d had in excess of 40 requests from Islanders looking to extend their homes in St Ouen and “a lot” in St Peter too.
The need for the tank – in what was described as one of several “pinch-points” across the Island – was the result of “significant” underinvestment in the Island’s “severely limited” drainage network through the years, according to Mr Berry, who said they needed more funding for further works to maintain and improve the creaking network.
The approval of the tank was not without controversy, with nearby St Peter residents – some of whom will be living less than 50 metres away from the construction site – raising concerns about the impact of 18 months of building work.
Some residents attended the Planning Committee hearing last month and a statement from resident Emiko Caerlewy-Smith, on behalf of 20 parishioners, was read out making a number of criticisms of what they said would be a “highly disruptive” scheme, including that residents would have to “withstand living next to a heavy construction site for at least 18 months”.
Residents also said there had been a lack of consultation and that they felt “shut out”.
Speaking to the JEP on Friday, Mr Berry said there was due to be a site visit on Saturday to another drainage tank, close to residential properties with a 2,500 cubic metre capacity, and that they would continue to engage with residents throughout the process.
Mr Berry and Mr Le Gallais said they had looked at other nearby sites to develop the tank but these were deemed unsuitable, with one of these requiring taking away a school playing field.
Mr Le Gallais admitted that there would be “a lot of construction activities” but he said that there would be a construction environmental management plan aiming to “minimise” the impact of those works, and a survey of any potential impact on borehole water quality.
Mr Berry said they were currently evaluating tenders for the project – the likes of which has not been built in Jersey for several years – in order to find a preferred contractor.
Construction is expected to be finished by late 2026/early 2027.
- More in tomorrow’s JEP as part of a series looking into the future of Jersey’s drainage network
