Farmers fight 'Plan A' fields for housing

Tuesday 22 February 2022

Two fields in St. Ouen, two in St. Peter and another in St. Helier which are earmarked for housing are very productive and should not be built on, the Jersey Farmers Union has argued.

The body says it fully recognises the strong demand for accommodation – and accepts that some of the least productive fields will be lost – but not these fields, which Environment Minister has on his ‘Plan A’ list for affordable homes in the proposed three-year Island Plan.

The fields are off Route de la Croute in St. Ouen, off Route du Manoir and Verte Rue in St. Peter, and behind the former Channel TV studios at La Pouquelaye.

St. Helier Deputy Mary Le Hegarat has lodged an amendment to the Bridging Island Plan to remove the St. Ouen and St. Helier fields.

Other fields which have been proposed by backbenchers are still being assessed by the JFU, which will publish a full report before the Bridging Island Plan is debated next month.

JFU President Peter Le Maistre said: “We have made it clear [to the Government] that we do not support any development at all but respectfully asked that if fields had to be taken, notice was taken of our assessment.

“I was pleased that the Environment Minister has withdrawn the fields at Mont à l'Abbé and also the large productive block of land at Samarès in St. Clement."

Pictured: The JFU has designated 0622 and 0623 in St. Ouen as "very productive". One is farmed for potatoes and the other for dairy.

He continued: “Going forward there are still a number of fields that we feel are too good to lose and I shall be making States Members aware of their importance before the debate.

“In the amendments, there are also a couple of sites which would be in the ‘less important’ or ‘not in agricultural use’ categories.

“Remember, Mark Twain’s view of land that 'They’re not making it anymore'. While housing is important, so is food production. I urge States Members to take the absolute minimum of our precious green fields.”

Mr Le Maistre said that Jersey had fallen beneath 50% of its land area farmed for the first time ever.

“Since 1980, we have lost 5,000 vergées and many people in the industry feel very strongly that we cannot afford to lose any more,” he said.

Pictured: JFU President Peter Le Maistre: "We decided that we should be more pragmatic."

“On the other side of the coin the need for new affordable housing has probably never been more obvious.

"Many of the former industry leaders have objected to any development at all on green fields but myself and our council decided that, in the current housing crisis, we should be more pragmatic.

“We made it clear that before any green fields were taken, disused or derelict glasshouse sites should be taken first, and we fully support Senator Kristina Moore’s amendment to this effect."

CLICK TO ENLARGE: P599 and P558 have been put forward for housing in St. Peter, in addition to P632 (hatched).

He added: “We also accepted that there may not be enough of these sites to meet the current need, so we sent the Deputy Young our assessment of the original sites that were chosen.

“As President of the JFU, along with my colleague Andrew Le Gallais, representing the dairy industry, I attended the Planning Inspectors hearings in November, where I was able to answer any questions they had on particular sites.”

The JFU’s assessment has been based on a number of criteria: size of field, soil type, earliness of crop, topography, ease of access and importance to the farm.

At the end of that assessment, fields were planed into four categories: definitely no development; last-resort development; less important to the industry; and not in agricultural use.

The Bridging Island Plan has 99 amendments as well as a number of ‘amendments of amendments’ – making it the biggest proposal ever before the States for debate. 

The Environment Minister is proposing that 15 fields or clusters of fields provide 610 affordable homes. Overall, he hopes the BIP will yield 4,300 homes.