Politicians throw out St. Brelade apartment plans... again

Monday 24 October 2022

An application to demolish a single house along Route Orange in St. Brelade and build 13 two-bedroom apartments has been once again rejected.

At a meeting on Thursday, the group of politicians judged that the “proposed development by virtue of its mass and scale would be dominant and intrusive, thereby unreasonably affecting the character and amenity of the area and the environment”.

This would be contrary to a number of policies set out in the Bridging Island Plan, the politicians said.

The Committee had reached this conclusion at the end of September but because they went against the recommendation of the Planning Officer assigned to the application, the issue returned last week for the Committee to confirm its decision.

The application relates to a property called Fair Acre, which is to the western end of Route Orange, which runs from Les Quennevais to La Moye.

A previous application for 15 two-bedroom units submitted in 2020 was refused by the previous Committee in May.

Pictured: Fair Acre is currently a single property south of Route Orange in St. Brelade.

This was because the "proposed development by virtue of its mass, scale, height, design and large imposing bland side gable ends would be dominant and intrusive".

The gable end to the west would also "result in an unacceptable overbearing impact, harmful to the amenities of the occupiers of the neighbouring property," the Committee concluded.

This time, the Planning Officer recommended endorsement, arguing that the design changes made by the applicant, Dandara, since the May rejection – including reducing the number of homes by two, removing the basement parking and introducing 'mono pitched roofs - were sufficient for it to comply with the Bridging Island Plan and address the issues raised by the last Committee, including the impact on a neighbouring home.

However, the new Committee judged that the application still failed to comply with six policies of the BIP, which was approved by the Assembly in March and is the 'rule book' for all planning decisions until the end of 2025.

The application attracted 38 public comments, the majority of them from islanders against the development.