STRIVE Health Club – which is behind a proposal to build a £50m hotel between the gym and the neighbouring rugby club – has pledged to spend £250,000 for pitch improvements on nearby land in order to comply with a key planning policy.
Updated plans for a hotel and conference centre in St Peter were submitted in January after a previous, larger incarnation was refused planning permission in November.
Since then, Strive has said that it has worked with planning officers to come up with an acceptable scheme. However, the new outline application still needs to be passed by the Planning Committee, a group of politicians that meets monthly to rule on larger and more controversial projects.
In proposing the £250,000 donation – which could be spent on pitches at the rugby club, Wanderers Football Club, Les Quennevais or elsewhere – Strive are seeking to comply with a policy of the Bridging Island Plan, against which the application will be assessed.
The proposed development falls in the green zone, and outside of the built environment identified in the plan. However, one of its policies, CI5, allows sporting and leisure development to go ahead – in this case, the conference centre and spa / wellness part of the application – if it provides wider benefits to the community, such as enhanced sports provision.
This was the premise of the refused application, which proposed indoor sports facilities on a nearby field. However, that third phase – after the health club and hotel – has since been dropped.
This was one of the reasons why the ‘Place and Spatial Planning team’ in the government’s Cabinet Office has recommended that the new application is refused.
However, Strive managing director Ben Harvey has recently written to Planning to address this.
He writes: “We understand that any public benefits that are offered as part of the proposal will need to be capable of being secured in order to be included in the balance of planning considerations.”
Policy CI5 states: “The development of sports and leisure uses may also be supported in the identified sports and leisure area of potential (St Peter) but only where the public benefit and contribution to the viability and success of local sports can be proven to outweigh any loss or harm to the landscape and agricultural land.”
Addressing this, Mr Harvey writes: “To this end, as part of this outline planning application, in addition to the provision of the conference centre, spa and wellness centre, we would like to propose a planning obligastion agreement whereby a financial contribution of up to £250,000 is made for pitch improvements on nearby land.
“It is proposed that the pitch improvement works will include, but not limited to improved drainage, upgrading and resurfacing. Such work is to be designed to improve playability and availability to better meet the needs of community use and visiting teams.”
