A FORMER Island senator has been left ‘desperately disappointed’ following a rejection of plans to turn agricultural land in St Martin into an indoor cricket centre.
Jim Perchard applied to rezone a section of his property, adjacent to Farmers Cricket Ground, in order to develop a sports complex which would include state-of-the-art facilities for Jersey’s top cricketers.
The privately-funded proposals, which were supported in principle by the International Cricket Council and Jersey’s sports minister, Deputy Hugh Raymond, were recommended for approval by independent planning inspectors, as part of their review of the Bridging Island Plan.
However, Environment Minister John Young rejected their recommendation.
A report released by the independent panel said that location and the need for such facilities should ‘outweigh the minister’s objection’. However, in his post-examination response, Deputy Young said he ‘does not consider that these are sufficient reasons to overcome his concerns.’
His report added: ‘While the minister seeks to ensure the draft Bridging Island Plan is able to accommodate all sports facilities to the benefit of Islanders, this is not the right location for a sports and leisure facility.’
Full story in Saturday’s JEP.
