Neighbour appeals permission for green roof home in St. Brelade's Bay

Tuesday 06 June 2023

A neighbour living next to an empty plot in St. Brelade’s Bay is appealing against permission to build a four-bedroom beachside house with a 'green roof' on the site.

This week, an independent planning inspector heard arguments for and against approval to build a flat-roofed family home at Makai, which used to be called La Rousse, which is immediately to the west of the L’Horizon Hotel.

Permission for the new building, which would have a ‘green roof’ and ‘living wall’ if built, was granted by the Planning Committee in March but the owners of nearby El Cobre subsequently lodged an appeal.

The main grounds of appeal are the suitability of the proposed flat roof, the scale and mass of the building, and the effect of the plans on the neighbouring property.

The site already has three live permissions for development but a new application last year – to build a five-bed house with a pitched roof – was rejected because it was judged not to comply with policies in the newly passed Bridging Island Plan.

Pictured: An artist's impression of the property from Route de la Baie. (Riva Architects / Kube Visuals Ltd).

The applicant, Mr B Cooke, therefore sent his architects back to the drawing board to present a new scheme, reducing the proposed home’s size and scale by 6.3% and replacing the pitched roof for a flat one, which the committee unanimously approved.

For the appellant, architect Nick Socrates said that the flat roof increased the building’s height at its eaves by over a metre, which increased its development area and visual impact.

For the applicant, architect Carlo Riva said that the building’s floorspace and footprint had decreased in order to support the new green roof.

Also objecting at the appeal was Deputy Moz Scott, who chairs the St. Brelade’s Bay Association, who argued that pitched roofs were more suitable for the area.

Having heard the evidence and visited the site, independent planning inspector Sue Bell will make her decision in the coming weeks.