Plans submitted for Grainville playing field extension

Saturday 14 October 2023

Students at Grainville School could get a new playing field, built on agricultural land, if a planning application is successful.

If the plans are approved, a row of 22 poplar trees will be removed to make space for the field extension.

The trees are around 25m tall and are around 35 years old.

But the assessment of the trees submitted with the planning application reads: "The trees have value as a green biomass but they are not indigenous, not in context with the landscape, do not rank highly ecologically, historically, culturally or genetically."

The application also comes with an extensive planting strategy, with maples, blackthorns, hawthorns, plum trees and wildflowers among the proposed species.

The plans propose bird, bat and squirrel boxes to be placed in some of the older trees that already line the field.

Some sections of the granite wall will be taken down, but the rock is to be reused elsewhere.

In a community consultation meeting, members of the public generally supported the scheme but raised concerns about losing access to the field for walking dogs, and potential parking issues. One attendee said the school already had enough outdoor playing fields.

The changes form part of the Bridging Island Plan, the plan governing the island's development until 2025. Under this plan, the field was safeguarded for educational use, but on condition that surrounding fields would still be accessible by farmers. 

Other fields were set aside for educational use in the plan for schools including JCG, Jersey College Prep, Mont à L’Abbé, Haute Vallée, First Tower, St John’s, and Les Landes,

Pictured top: Grainville School. (Rob Currie)