"Developers could help pay for our health and happiness in town" - Environment Minister

Friday 22 January 2016

Jersey’s Environment Minister is looking at more ways to help us become healthier and happier and to make St Helier a more attractive place to live in, work and visit - and developers could pick up the bill.

Deputy Steve Luce wants to see more planning obligation agreements in place so that developers have to improve the areas around their new buildings and share the burden of the cost of infrastructure with taxpayers.

Over the last few years the agreements have already helped pay for a better local surface water and sewerage system, new bus shelters, traffic calming measures and helped with contributions to the cost of running public transport.

New public open spaces have also been created both inside buildings like the Chart Room in Castle Quay and outside in front of the redeveloped Southampton Hotel.

Deputy Luce thinks introducing a community infrastructure levy and raising cash from developers could also help make town better too. They've been used by local authorities in England and Wales since 2010 and paid for improvements to roads, flood defences, schools, hospitals and other health and social care facilities, parks, green spaces and leisure centres.

In a blog on the gov.je website he said: "I spoke to the construction industry about these ideas last year. We’ll be carrying out a more serious exploration of the potential for a community infrastructure levy soon and it’ll be the subject of wide consultation and engagement to ensure that any scheme is viable and appropriate to Jersey.

"It’s one of a number of initiatives proposed by the Future St Helier ministerial group that I chair,  working on the Council of Minister’s objective of making St Helier a more attractive place to live in, work in and visit (more of which to follow in due course).

"If the many scientific papers on the subject are to be believed, this would help Jersey maintain its place in an increasingly globalised, competitive and mobile world by offering its existing and future residents the prospect of a better environment and help provide the health and happiness that we all seek."