“There are no cows!” Owners claim States misled during field vote

Thursday 24 March 2022

The owners of a field in St. Saviour have argued that States Members were “grossly misled” ahead of a vote blocking the development of affordable homes on it.

Speaking during last week’s States Assembly debate over the future of Field ‘S530’, St. Saviour’s Constable Sadie Le Sueur Rennard described a “beautiful meadow” filled with “grazing cows”.

But Shona Ringsdore, shareholder of a family company which owns it, says that there haven’t been cows in it for more than three decades.

She also said it was “incorrect” for Infrastructure Minister and St. Saviour Deputy Kevin Lewis to tell the States Assembly that there was a brook running through it and raised concerns over whether the parish representatives were referring to the wrong site.

Located between Clos Paumelle and the Belvedere estate at Five Oaks, the field had originally been included on the Environment Minister’s list of sites to be rezoned for affordable homes in the three-year Bridging Island Plan (BIP). 

But Deputy Lewis put forward an amendment to remove it from the list, succeededing with 28 votes to 10, and 11 States Members absent, on Friday.

However, Mrs Ringsdore claims that States Members were “potentially misled” by a number of “serious and material factual errors” made in speeches by some parish representatives and has this week written to the Environment Minister, Deputy John Young, to draw his “urgent attention” to them.

Pictured: The access to Field S530 is down a lane off Princes Tower Road.

During the debate about the field last Friday, Constable Le Sueur-Rennard said: “It is a beautiful meadow. If you pass there now, you will see there are cows grazing in it.

"There are bales of silage which have been made and they are stored in the field. I was talking to people who live and overlook it and they have had some potatoes growing in it. It is absolutely fabulous.”

However, Mrs Ringsdore said: “The field has not had cows in it for 35 years and it has not been cultivated during that time, except flailing to keep the grass down.

"There has been nothing grown in the field for at least 18 years.

“Also, the Jersey Farmers’ Union said that the field was the 'least important' to agriculture from those proposed for rezoning in St. Saviour, which was reiterated in the independent planning inspectors’ report.

“What disgusts me is that, in putting this field forward for rezoning, we followed and abided by the process set out in the Island Plan to the letter and yet our elected representatives misled the Assembly.”

Pictured: Deputy Kevin Lewis says this flood plain map, which was part of the BIP evidence, shows a watercourse through the field.

Mrs Ringsdore added that Deputy Lewis had been wrong to say in the debate: “There is a brook that runs through this meadow towards Swiss Valley, which in turn runs all the way down to the rear of Longueville Manor. This field, S530, must be preserved as a valuable branch of Swiss Valley.”

Mrs Ringsdore said: “The Constable and other Members stated that there was a brook running through the land and speculated that this feeds into Swiss Valley.

"This is incorrect. There is no pond or brook on field S530.

“These may be references to other parcels of land in the area. However, clearly, these are incorrect and therefore irrelevant for a States debate on field S530.”

In her letter to the Environment Minister, Mrs Ringsdore requests that “these inaccuracies are brought to the attention of the Assembly and its officers so that the necessary corrections are made with a plan for a proper rehearing process and is invoked forthwith.”

However, Mrs Ringsdore conceded that the States Assembly was unlikely to reverse its decision, although she said she would submit the field for the next Island Plan in three years’ time. 

She added that her parents, who are both 91, bought the field in the 70s. She said the money from its sale would have been used to put a lift in her parents’ home, and other modifications, to keep them living there, rather than going into care. 

The family lives in homes alongside the field.  

Pictured: Field S530 is down the end of this lane off Princes Tower Road.

In response, Deputy Lewis referred to the section of the Bridging Island Plan document, which says: “A brook runs along the eastern edge of the site towards Swiss Valley and therefore attenuation of surface water flow is required on the site.”

He added: “The brook, albeit capped, does indeed run down and join Swiss Valley.”

Constable Le Sueur-Rennard said she would be seeking to make a statement on the matter in the States Assembly on Thursday.

According to the draft BIP, field S530 "is open and undulating agricultural land, which has been farmed in recent years.

“The land has no agricultural conditions and is considered to be a good shape with good access. The field has become isolated over time and therefore, if developed for housing, it would be less of a significant loss to the agricultural industry.”

The authors of the plan estimate that the field could provide 60 to 90 homes.