Around 50 people attended an open evening at St Ouen’s Parish Hall last night to look at plans to build 12 self-catered unit on an open piece of tarmac where the Milano Bars at L’Etacq once stood.
A range of views were expressed, which included both support for and rejection of the scheme, which is yet to formally go to Planning.
They included calls for the privately owned car park – which has become a popular spot for motorhome owners, surfers, beachgoers and families having barbecues since the tourist venue was demolished in 1996 – to be returned to nature, possibly with financial support from the Government, as it did with the Seaside Café at Grève de Lecq, which was also proposed for development before taxpayers stepped in.
Others said the proposed dozen units and 24 car parking spaces would be an improvement on the existing open space, and on a 1996 scheme – for which permission still exists – for an 18-bedroom hotel and 71 parking spaces.
St Ouen parishioner Basil Carré – who used to work behind the bar at the Milano Bars in its heyday, when coachloads of tourist revelled on the ‘crazy night’ circuit – said that he supported the scheme but expressed concern that the self-catered tourist units would morph into private homes at some point in the future.
“It is a bit of an eyesore at the moment as it sometimes resembles a caravan park,” he said.
“However, I don’t want it to become houses in years to come, as happened at the nearby Marina restaurant site.”
John Nicolson of MS Planning, which is supporting the site’s Jersey-resident owner with his project, said that the St Ouen’s meeting had been civilised and informative and all views would be taken into consideration.
The site sits within Jersey’s Coastal National Park, a planning designation which is designed to “protect its outstanding landscape and seascape character, along with its special heritage and biodiversity value”.