AN investigation has been launched by the Planning Department into the former Nude Dunes site following claims “it is being used for residential purposes” – as calls grow for the former restaurant to be purchased by the government for the public.
Revised plans to turn part of the La Pulente site into self-catering holiday accommodation were refused by the Planning Committee last week.
Environment Minister Steve Luce confirmed in the States that officers “were actively engaged” and any potential breaches could ultimately be referred to the Attorney General.
The site was briefly home to Nude Dunes – part of Nude Food – which went bust in 2023 after five months in operation.
Since then, owners have put in two planning applications to add accommodation to the site, both of which have been refused.
The Planning Department has confirmed to the JEP that the site is being investigated, amid speculation about its current use, but was unable to comment further.
Deputy Montfort Tadier told States Members on Tuesday that there were a “number of concerns” relating to Nude Dunes “potentially breaching its use and being used for residential purposes”.
Responding to a question in the States from Deputy Tadier, Deputy Luce said the site was of “great interest to the public”.
Last summer hundreds of Islanders – Deputy Tadier one of them – protested on the beach in St Ouen’s Bay to “show support for the protection of La Pulente and the wider coastline from privatisation and overdevelopment”.
Deputy Luce recently upheld a previous Planning Committee refusal of an earlier iteration of the La Pulente scheme.
The minister highlighted that there had been “some discussion around the use of the site currently”.
He added: “All I can say is following the Planning Committee’s decision last Thursday, officers are now actively engaged in looking at the site to see what, if anything, is occurring.”
He added that if breaches were found, officers would put a case together to take to the Attorney General’s office.
Deputy Tadier said that he hoped for “swift action” if the site was found to have been used for residential purposes.
The St Brelade politician said he was exploring options for the former restaurant to be bought and was in conversations with a potential private benefactor.
He suggested the site could be purchased by the States Assembly and highlighted the example of the former Seaside Café site at Grève de Lecq which was bought by the government for £3.6 million and given to the National Trust for Jersey.
“I would like to see it [La Pulente] back in public use,” he said, so that “it doesn’t fall into private residential or holiday let use”.
He added: “I think there is a case for the States to consider purchasing it for the public.”
Deputy Tadier also highlighted that the restaurant and public toilets at the site had been closed for some time leaving that part of the bay with no facilities.
“I think the public is being short-changed,” he said.
Commenting, fellow St Brelade Deputy Jonathan Renouf – while not ruling out compulsory purchase – said it “feels like we’re quite a way from that position at the moment”.
He added: “I don’t believe any public use has been identified for the site, and there hasn’t been a request to the owner to see if they would sell voluntarily.
“There might also be legitimate questions asked about how the government came to sell the site for £100,000 (or thereabouts), only to buy it back a few years later at a cost of millions.”
Karl Sutton, who ran the Hideout – a beach kiosk that operated at the site until it was forced to leave when Nude Dunes opened – said he wanted the site to be an “affordable” restaurant or café, “which is what it is meant to be”.
When contacted by the JEP, the site’s owner Nadia Miller declined to comment.
