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The residents of an apartment block bordering the Elizabeth Harbour have voiced concern that their homes appear to have been forgotten about in plans to develop the next-door port.
Harbour Reach is a group of apartments on the south side of Rue de Carteret, immediately north of the Elizabeth Harbour container park.
Ports of Jersey has recently submitted plans to extensively develop the harbour area, including building a new passenger terminal, customs hall and a new lift-on, lift-off berth.
The Harbour Reach residents have formally commented on the application, raising fears that their property has been left off the plans, or official submissions have conflated it with Castle Quay, which is on the other side of Rue de Carteret.
After reading Ports’ various documents, including an Environmental Statement, Lighting Impact and Crime Impact Statements, the residents conclude that Harbour Reach has mistakenly not been properly identified.
One photo in an Environmental Statement is captioned ‘Viewpoint 12 Residents in properties in Castle Quay’ but, the residents point out, the image was taken outside Harbour Reach.
They also argue that there has been a “lack of consideration on the impact of noise and vibration on Harbour Reach Apartments”, although they are only referred to as the “closest residential buildings”.
Pictured: Harbour Reach was the first residential block to be built around the Elizabeth Marina, years before next-door Castle Quay.
The Ports-submitted document states: “Apartments on Castle Quay and Castle Quay Medical Practice near La Rue de Carteret, adjacent to the northern boundary of the site. This is a six-storey apartment block overlooking Elizabeth Marina approximately 20m from the site boundary.”
The residents point out: “This residential accommodation is listed as being the closest to the site boundary at 20m.
"However, Castle Quay Apartments and Medical Practice are on the opposite side of Rue de Carteret to Harbour Reach Apartments, which are located on (rather than ‘near’) Rue de Carteret, and in fact are immediately adjacent to the site boundary.
“The shape of the Harbour Reach development means that at the closest position, the site boundary is only 3m from the apartments.”
Their development is mentioned elsewhere, the residents point out, where Harbour Reach is described as “close” to the boundary.
“Immediately adjacent would be more accurate,” they argue.
The residents are also “astonished” by the ‘Crime Impact Statement’, which states: “There are no residential units, public facilities (other than the passenger terminal building) or public houses on the site, or in the immediate vicinity.”
They conclude: “We believe that, as the closest residential property to the site boundary, the scheme should not be approved before the impact of the scheme on Harbour Reach Apartments and the residents is properly assessed, and mitigating measures updated and agreed with residents accordingly.”
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