PLANS for a hotel and conference centre at Strive near the Airport have been resubmitted – which propose a smaller building than the one rejected in November.
A previous planning application, which was submitted by Strive Health Club managing director, and former Jersey RFC head coach, Ben Harvey last August, had proposed a 179-bed hotel, which would have been 22.1m high at its highest point.
This was narrowly rejected by the Planning Committee, primarily because of the scale and mass of the proposed stepped building.
At the hearing two months ago, Mr Harvey said the health centre in St Peter had put Jersey on the global map following visits from the Springboks, Lions and England rugby teams.
He added that Liverpool FC wanted to visit, but only if there was better accommodation nearby, which the application provided.
Now, after liaising with Planning officers with a view to address the concerns of the committee, Mr Harvey and his backers have returned with a new outline proposal.
This is for a hotel of 155 ‘suites’ – 24 fewer than the failed application.
The new submission states: “The scale and mass of the proposed development have been significantly reduced. Amendments include a smaller building footprint, reduced overall height and a recessed upper floor, resulting in a more appropriate and balanced form of development.”
The proposed maximum height has decreased by 3.9m to 18.2m, the building has gone down from six storeys to five, the gross internal area has reduced by almost 10% from 13,918 m2 to 12,584m2, the fourth floor has been recessed by 3m and the north-east building mass, which faces the Airport Road, has been reduced by 3.8m.
The application argues: “The revised outline proposal represents a materially improved scheme, most notably through a significant reduction in scale and massing, which constitutes the key and most visible change.”
The submission adds that it believes that the other concerns of the Planning Committee have been addressed, including providing justification for building visitor accommodation outside of the ‘built-up area’ identified in the Bridging Island Plan, and addressing issues around how vehicles will leave and join the Airport Road.
In December, Mr Harvey told the JEP that following the original refusal, he and his team had been working with the government “as one team” on a fresh application.
The rejection in November sparked disappointment from several senior figures in the business sector, while Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham told the States Assembly he supported the concept of what was proposed and that he hoped that a new application for the site would be “more realistic in relation to size and scale”.
Main picture: an artist’s impression of the proposed new hotel, from the north-east, with the red block outlining the mass of the previous, rejected scheme. Credit: HD Planning and Axis Mason.
