Hire company told field must be used for agriculture

Thursday 24 August 2023

A local equipment hire business has been ordered to return a field it was using as a depot for machinery to agriculture and horticultural use.

A Planning Enforcement Notice issued this week said that it appears that a planning breach has taken place in the field off Clos du Fallu in St. Martin, the back road that runs between St. Martin’s Arsenal and the Westlea Centre at the top of Rue du Huquet.

“The site of Field MN770 has materially changed from its use as a storage shed and hardstandings for the purpose of horticulture and agriculture to general commercial use. Specifically for the storing and hiring to the public of plant and machinery by its tenant 4Hire Limited," the notice states.

“The change of use amounts to development, as defined in Article 5 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 and has not been granted permission by way of the provisions of the Planning and Building (General Development) (Jersey) Order 2011.”

Pictured: Field MN770 is south of Rue du Clos Fallu in St. Martin.

Permission was given in 2008 to construct a shed and two polytunnels on the field, which the Development Control team at Infrastructure and Environment argue was only for agricultural or horticultural purposes.

The order states that all plant and equipment must be removed within 30 days of the it being issued, which was 21 August, and the field returned to its approved use. There is a right of appeal through the Tribunal Service.

A spokesman for 4Hire said the business was still discussing its response to the Enforcement Notice.

The owner of the shed said it had employed the services of consultants' Steedman Planning to help it with its response to the notice.

It is the third Enforcement Notice to be issued in Jersey this year. In June, Development Control ordered that a marquee and wooden store on land next to Eastern Joinery Works in Rue de Samarès should both be removed within six months.

In May, Transform Together Fitness in Longueville Road was issued with a Breach of Condition Notice over its opening hours. The gym has appealed that notice and subsequently applied to Planning to vary those hours.