School to get 3G pitch on St. John field shared with new homes

Wednesday 23 March 2022

St. John's School is due to get a 3G all-weather pitch as part of development of a parish field which will also host 16 new first-time-buyer family homes

Field J525 is off Rue des Buttes immediately to the south of Close de l’Ecole and the primary school.

The land was subject to a planning inquiry in 2020, from which the independent inspector recommended that the parish plan to split the field into two: one half going to the school and the other to parish housing, should be supported.

Following this, a planning application was approved by Environment Minister John Young last February.   

However, a revised planning application has now been submitted to allow the site to get an all-weather playing pitch.

As well as a 3G surface, the school half will include a vegetable garden, a wildlife pond and a path leading from the estate to the school.

Pictured: Field J525 is near the urban centre of St. John.

The 16 three-bed homes will be allocated through the Affordable Housing Gateway, but priority will be given to the 202 parishioners currently on the St. John housing list.

Despite already having permission for development, and builders are already on site, J525 was one of the fields approved for rezoning in the yet-to-be-approved Bridging Island Plan.

It means that the 16 units are included in the 375 affordable homes that will be built on rezoned fields in the next five years. 

Pictured: The plans for the field.

The development is the first providing parish family homes for more than two decades.