Bay Association calls for reform of Planning Process

Monday 23 October 2017

The chairman of St Brélade’s Bay Association (SBBA) is calling for changes in the Planning Process to help members of the public and the Planning Committee review planning applications relating to the bay more easily.

Moz Scott, a former partner at Mourant Ozannes, has written to the Director of Planning to seek changes to the process used by the Planning Department to recommend the application to the Planning Committee.

The SBBA recently contested an application to redevelop the Wayside site, which was eventually rejected unanimously by the Planning Committee. But for Ms Scott, the whole process was “way harder than it should have been.” "The bay’s locals had an unreasonably small amount of time to present a well-founded case against the Planning Department’s recommendation in a case that was unnecessarily complex. I wouldn’t wish the frustration and bad feeling experienced at the Planning Committee hearing on anyone. I hope lessons will be learnt from this."

Ms Scott has made a proposal asking planning officers to highlight identified inaccuracies in information used to support planning applications. She explained that several members of the local community challenged some of the information provided by the developers but that not all of the objections were addressed. She told Express: "The report was listing the developer's statement but failing to highlight the opinion of tenants. It felt unbalanced. It did respond to some of the objections but it didn't address all of them. We would like the report to mention that the challenges have at least been investigated. It would show that the Planning Department has addressed the concerns more accurately."

Pictured: Moz Scott says she was pleased that residents were able to make "wonderful presentations to keep the bay as beautiful for everyone as we can," at the Planning hearing. (SBBA)

Ms Scott would also like future planning application forms to mention that anyone making "false allegations" would be liable to prosecution, in a similar form to what is mentioned on tax forms. She says it would ensure that all information provided regarding an application is accurate and not misleading.

The SBBA also does not accept Planning’s interpretation of an amendment to planning policy voted in 2011 to protect the bay. The proposition put forward by Deputy Angela Jeune stated that a more detailed planning framework was necessary to "ensure that current and future pressure for the development and redevelopment of existing buildings in particular is sympathetic to its context and does not detract from the visual amenity of the bay and the public enjoyment of it."

Because of the disagreement in the current interpretation of the amendment, Ms Scott says the SBBA will "continue to force Planning Committee hearings, and to seek planning inquiries, of applications in the bay that fail to accord with a proposition passed in 1968 to prevent new builds in the bay, and design and landscape recommendations for the bay in a plan drawn up by the bay’s locals and planning officers in 1989."

"We will not only object to those applications but we will make sure that enough people object as well to make sure it goes to the Planning Committee. This will be the opportunity to emphasize this is neither right, nor fair, and we will make the point over and over again."

Pictured: The chairman of the SBBA says that the voice of the bay's locals should be given proper recognition and weight. (SBBA)

She has therefore asked the Planning Director to approach the Amendment  "...in a way that is consistent with the intentions of the States members who proposed and approved the amendment."

Finally, Ms Scott wants the voice of the bay's locals to be given proper recognition and weight. She said that in an amendment to the Island Plan brought forward by the then Minister for Planning Environment, Deputy Rob Duhamel, showed a clear intention to involve the locals in the redesigning of the bay. The report accompanying the amendment stated: "I am of the view that there is considerable opportunity to improve and enhance the built forms of development in the bay and to enhance its overall amenity, and I remain willing to work with any local group to help develop new planning guidance and tools to do this."

She is therefore hoping that people in the bay will be given a voice. "At the SBBA, we are only a small group that assist people in the bay. We have a mailing list which enables us to contact residents to organize a coordinated response. If an application comes up, people can sometimes feel daunted so we offer them guidance. Local knowledge is relevant and we are hoping it can be given more weight."