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The Housing Minister has released a list of five Government-owned sites he thinks should be used to provide a total of 500 homes, six months after pledging to do so.
According to Deputy Russell Labey, the five proposed sites could be available between 2022 and 2026.
The publication of the list of proposed sites comes six months after the Housing Minister’s pledged to work the Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Kevin Lewis, and the Minister for the Environment, Deputy John Young, to develop a “long-term pipeline of land release” by the end of the year.
It came after the Housing Policy Development Board found that access to land in the medium to long-term was a barrier to the development of homes in Jersey.
In his 'Creating Better Homes' report, published in June, Deputy Labey said a number of Government-owned sites – the Ambulance Station, the Limes, Le Bas, St. Saviour’s Hospital, Westaway Court and La Motte Street offices – were being reviewed for such release.
Four of those - the Limes, Le Bas, St. Saviour’s Hospital, Westaway Court and La Motte Street offices - now appear on his list, with the first having been allocated to Andium Homes for 144 homes to be built by 2024.
Pictured: Deputy Russell Labey, the Minister for Housing.
In the introduction to his latest report, Deputy Labey noted that each of the sites he had highlighted "will be subject, of course, to all due statutory processes, community consultation and planning procedures to enable the delivery of new, modern, sustainable housing for Jersey."
“It is also important to ensure that the sites have a mix of housing, with quality designs, good layout, and street scape, which together will create a sense of place to maintain and support the development of strong local communities," he added.
Here are the sites that have been proposed by the Minister...
Located near the Parade Gardens, Westaway Court was once part of the planning application for the new hospital, before plans to build a new facility on the current site were shelved. It would have been the site of outpatient services but the Housing Minister is suggesting it could instead be the site of 75 homes.
A stone's throw from Queen's Valley reservoir and Maple Ward, Valley Close and Marina Court could make way for 50 homes according to the Minister.
But the idea is not new... Back in 2018, the Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Kevin Lewis, already said the "residential properties at Marina Court, Marina Cottages and Valley Close, had the potential for redevelopment".
The appearance of St. Saviour's Hospital on the list should not be a surprise for many either as it has been mentioned as such several times.
Back in September, the Housing Minister said its designation as a site for housing was “very close” but that issues around its decanting still needed to be resolved.
Another not so new idea on the list. Philip Le Feuvre House and Huguenot House were part of a list of nine sites the Government said it would consider for "affordable, private and key worker housing and commercial development" and could reportedly generate up to £28.5m if sold, in 2019 as it announced a multi-million downsizing project.
Since then, Dandara has successfully submitted plans for a new Government headquarters on the site of Cyril Le Marquand House, whose demolition has just started.
After saying goodbye to its last students in July 2020, the 56-year-old Les Quennevais School will be serving as a temporary hospital whilst the new facility is built at Overdale.
In the future, it could become the location of a housing estate with 100 homes.
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