Luxury home to be built on empty plot in St Brelade's Bay

Monday 20 March 2023

A four-bedroom beachside house, including a ‘green roof’, ‘living wall’ and swimming pool, will be built in St. Brelade’s Bay, after getting the official go-ahead last week despite opposition from a parish Deputy.

The property will be built on an empty plot, known as La Rousse, immediately to the west of the L’Horizon Hotel.

The Planning Committee – a group of politicians who decide on major or more controversial applications – approved the two-storey development on Thursday.

The project had been recommended for approval by the Planning Department.

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

The applicant therefore went 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.

The committee was told that the site had been purchased by a local family. It is in the Island Plan’s ‘Built Up Area’ – in which development is generally encouraged – but also in the ‘Shoreline Zone’, which is more restrictive.

Pictured: The empty plot in St. Brelade's Bay.

In giving approval, the committee said: “This latest application is for an alternative form of development to the [previous] approvals, delivering reductions in overall floorspace and footprint when compared to the most recently approved new dwelling. 

“Its overall visual impact is also broadly the same. 

“On this basis, the committee is satisfied that the scale and design of the scheme is appropriate and acceptable in this location, having regard to the zoning constraints of the Bridging Island Plan, together with the planning history.

“The concerns raised by nearby residents relating to overlooking / loss of privacy are noted. Notwithstanding these objections, the committee is satisfied that the development will not result in unreasonable harm being caused to the amenities of these neighbours.”

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

One of those objecting to the development was Deputy Moz Scott, who also chairs the St. Brelade’s Bay Association. 

Afterwards, Deputy Scott, who also spoke at the hearing, said: “It is disappointing that the Planning Committee had exercised its discretion to approve an application for a large residential building with a flat roof on the seafront of St. Brelade’s Bay.

“This is despite an amendment to planning policy brought by Constable Jackson of St. Brelade and approved by the States Assembly last year to restrict further residential development in the Bay. 

“There is a need for neighbourhood planning that respects the majority views of local residents and the public over than the views of individual States Members and planning officers.”