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Almost 300 homes, and several sites in St. Saviour, could be removed from the next Island Plan if politicians back attempts to change it.
The proposed plan, which was unveiled in April, earmarked 11 sites – most of them agricultural fields – across seven parishes for ‘affordable’ homes.
The plan is now open for consultation until Monday, but politicians also have an opportunity to try to formally amend it in the Assembly.
So far, four Members have taken that opportunity. Their proposed changes include calling for the three sites in St. Saviour to be removed and one of the two St. Helier sites to be dropped.
However, there is a call to add another site in St. Peter, which is next to a field that is already proposed for development in the plan.
The most significant amendment is to remove a cluster of fields opposite the old JEP building at Five Oaks, a field off Princes Tower Road and part of the Longueville Nurseries from the plan, which will be a development blueprint for Jersey up to 2025.
Pictured: The cluster of fields at Five Oaks which Deputy Lewis wants removed from the draft Island Plan.
Lodged by Infrastructure Minister and St. Saviour Deputy Kevin Lewis, this would remove three of the 11 sites from the plan, which have the potential to yield 212 homes.
He argues: “The Parish of St. Saviour is already heavily built up and suffers from increasing levels of traffic.
“With eleven schools in and around the Parish, the morning rush hour is already causing bumper-to-bumper traffic especially to the area around the Five Oaks roundabout. With a large development listed just north of the roundabout, and the old St. Saviour’s Hospital due for redevelopment in the future, this part of St. Saviour will grind to a halt.”
Specifically, the Deputy says that the Five Oaks development would “overload” an already busy area, the Princes Tower Road field is a “rare green lung” in the parish and the nursery site “is unsuitable for housing as it is next to a preservation area and exists onto a very awkward junction to Longueville Road”.
St. Helier Deputy Mary Le Hegarat, meanwhile, wants three fields off Grande Route de St. Jean, to be removed from the plan.
Pictured: The three fields in St. Helier, almost opposite the St. Helier parish depot, which Deputy Le Hegarat wants removed from the plan.
She says: “The existing use of the three fields is by the nearby dairy and is classified as strategically important for this continuation of business for the dairy. It is surprising that these fields have therefore been included within the plan.
“It is clear that dairy herds need land adjacent or very close by the farm as it is not practical to move animals long distances to pasture and it is necessary to keep them close to the milking parlour. It is also worth mentioning that this herd has taken four years to gain organic status.
“The Island identity utilises the Jersey Cow as of significant importance to Jersey and it is therefore imperative to preserve its environment.”
Deputy Le Hegarat also highlights the extra traffic the development of up to 76 homes will generate and the importance of green space in the parish. It follows calls from a parish campaign group.
St. Peter Constable Richard Vibert is calling for ‘Field P588’ to be added to the draft plan for one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes. The field is next to ‘Field P632’, which is opposite the Sir George Carteret pub and is already proposed for up 59 homes in the draft plan.
Pictured: The field marked in red is already in the draft bridging Island Plan. The Constable of St Peter wants to add the field at the top in the centre to it.
Constable Vibert says: “The Parish Island Plan Committee recognised that the development of Field P558 in addition to Field P632 would provide greater flexibility to the parish when addressing the urgent need for first time buyer affordable housing.
“The field is adjacent to Field P632 and the Queen’s Jubilee Homes, which places it in an ideal location when the provision for services for Field P632 are considered. Services for Field P558 could be accommodated at the same time, speeding up the start of development and producing savings as there would be no need to revisit the issue of services for a second time.”
The final amendment so far comes from St. Helier Deputy Inna Gardiner, who argues that play areas should need to be within 500m of new sites instead of 1km.
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