JERSEY’S planning system needs fewer hurdles, less bureaucracy and a new Island Plan, the politician elected as the Island’s Planning and Regulation Minister has said.
Senator Mark Boleat was formally appointed to the newly-created role following a vote in the States Assembly this afternoon.
His election followed a move by Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham to create separate ministerial roles for both Environment and Planning, with the latter taking the total membership of the Council of Ministers to 14.
In the speech making his case to be elected, Senator Boleat said he had experienced the challenges of setting up a business in Jersey, including a 12-step process on the government website and forms that could not be edited, or saved prior to completion.
“People encounter bureaucracy, disorganisation and endless hoops that they must jump through,” he said.
Senator Boleat said he agreed with previous comments made by government chief executive Andrew McLaughlin that while all the Island’s regulatory measures may have been justifiable in their own right at the time they were brought in, it was the totality of all the measures, many of which overlapped or in some cases were conflicting, that was the issue.
Those putting themselves forward for ministerial office should not be afraid to make unpopular decisions, he added.
Senator Boleat highlighted the need to replace the Bridging Island Plan which he said was not fit for purpose, saying that it placed too great an emphasis on preserving the past rather than protecting for the future.
Rival candidate Deputy Montfort Tadier said he believed that the planning process was over-regulated in some cases, but was concerned about the lack of teeth for enforcement.
He highlighted the need for a householder in the district he represents having to gain planning consent for a small pagoda in the back garden of a detached house, while a nearby property owner at a prominent coastal site had been “taking the mickey” through not removing a structure after a ruling that it had not been put up illegally.
Deputy Tadier said he was concerned that Senator Boleat had “form” for deregulation and might end up “throwing the baby out with the bathwater”.
“Jersey has a balanced system and we tinker with it at our peril,” he said.
Senator Boleat was elected following a vote in which he received 37 votes to the seven gained by Deputy Tadier.
