States make "difficult and unpleasant" decision to rezone fields for housing

Friday 18 March 2022

The States have approved the rezoning of fields in fields in St. Peter, St. John and one in St. Ouen to provide affordable homes - a decision the Environment Minister said made him "sick to the stomach."

This morning, Members voted to approve a list of seven fields to be built on, which was updated following a number of successful amendments on Thursday.

The Assembly also approved the removal of a field in Grouville from Environment Minister John Young’s ‘Plan A’ list of sites for affordable homes.

The fields they will be developed are:

• J229, La Route du Nord, St. John;
• J236, La Rue du Cimetière, St. John;
• J1109, La Grande Route de St. Jean, St. John;
• MY563, La Rue de la Rosière and La Rue de la Vallée, St. Mary;
• O785, La Rue des Cosnets, St. Ouen;
• P558, La Verte Rue, St. Peter;
• P559, La Route du Manoir, St. Peter.

They have the potential to provide around 155 homes.

The debate included an impassioned plea from Environment Minister John Young, who conceded that the loss of these fields was not only necessary to provide essential homes but also a result of policy failures, including the Government’s inability to control the growing population, the lack of a land development tax, and its preference for the market to assign housing types over intervention.

He called it a “difficult and unpleasant” debate and it made him “sick in the stomach” to propose the loss of agriculture land. It was a “horrible situation," he said.

The minister identified that one of the overarching problems was capitalism and he wished that “...we lived in a different society."

He added that the target of building 600 affordable homes had already been missed following earlier amendments – which included fields in St. Ouen, St. Saviour and St. Helier being removed from the Bridging Island Plan.

His amendment was supported by 30 votes to 10.

Straight after the approval of these fields, the Assembly agreed to remove field ‘G392A’ near Verona Stores in Grouville from the wider list of affordable homes. 

Proposed by Parish Deputy Carolyn Labey, the amendment was supported by Constable John Le Maistre, who argued that the will of the parish had been clearly voiced at a parish assembly last week.

Some Members, including Deputy Judy Martin, said that young people in the parish had not had their voices heard at that meeting and there was a clear demand for homes but the amendment was adopted by 25 votes to 13.

The Assembly have now started to debate the remaining fields earmarked for affordable homes, including a field close to Haute Vallée School and Five Oaks.

There are also more amendments to debate including the addition of fields proposed by States Members. This include fields in St. Peter, Grouville, St. Martin and Trinity.