VIDEO: Under starter’s orders: Planning gives the go ahead for elite sports centre in the Green Zone

Thursday 25 August 2016

A team of politicians who decide on controversial planning applications has ignored the advice of its civil servants and has given the go ahead for an elite sports centre to be built in the Green Zone.

The 20,000 square foot centre will be built on a field adjacent to the rugby club in St Peter. The field used to be a training pitch but suffers from poor drainage and is very stoney, it’s currently used as a car park on match days. But, in the Island Plan – a policy document that dictates what can be built where – it’s designated as being in the Green Zone. That means building is prohibited unless there is ‘sufficient justification for doing so’.

According to Planning Officers there wasn’t sufficient reason to approve the build, but at a public meeting this morning politicians heard from those involved in the scheme and gave it the go ahead

A team of investors headed by former Jersey Rugby coach Ben Harvey is behind the scheme. It says sporting facilities in the Island are woefully out of date and that the centre will put that right. A private members gym will help fund the centre’s community role: the aim is to give schoolchildren and a number of other groups free use of the facilities, and to help nurture the athletes of the future. As well as training facilities there will be classrooms, and a medical centre.

According to Mr Harvey Jersey’s successful athletes – people like Serena Guthrie, Becky Herbert, Dan Hawksworth and Graeme Le Saux – have been ‘happy accidents’. They’ve succeeded without any local guidance. He says the elite academy will help guide future sports stars. He says Jersey should be at least as good as Sark and Guernsey – they both had competitors in this year’s Olympics.

Mr Harvey also told the panel he’d had interest from the All Blacks – the New Zealand rugby team – and other top English teams – to come and train in the Island if the facility got up and running.

The six politicians hearing the case – chairman Constable Juliette Gallichan, and Deputies Richard Rondel, Graham Truscott, Jeremy Macon, Scott Wickenden and Russell Labey – all said they were averse to allowing building in the Green Zone but all of them – with the exception of Deputy Truscott – believed the community benefit just about outweighed the loss of the field and approved the scheme. To make sure the project does benefit the community the politicians stipulated a Planning Obligation Agreement be signed by the centre, Planning, and those that are going to use the facility.