Jersey’s Environment Minister has faced questions over why the Nude Dunes owner was given two months to stop using the former restaurant as a home.
Deputy Steve Luce yesterday told the States Assembly that his department would “always pursue non-compliance”, but also tried to be “fair” with the amount of time given to rectify a breach.
The enforcement notices served to the Nudes Dunes owner last month marked the latest development in the saga of the shuttered La Pulente site, which was briefly home to a restaurant before it went bust in November 2023 – just months after opening.
In July, a fresh bid by property owner Nadia Miller to have the majority of the building converted into self-catering holiday accommodation was rejected by the Planning Committee.
That decision came just over a month after Deputy Luce upheld the Committee’s refusal of a previous iteration of the scheme.
It last month emerged that two enforcement notices had been served in relation to the alleged creation of a “self-contained residential unit” and erection of a “modular building and wooden fence” at the site.
Both notices gave two months for compliance, from 7 August.
During this week’s States sitting, former Environment Minister Deputy Jonathan Renouf asked Deputy Luce to explain “why two months was allowed for compliance to be achieved” and whether he believed that the current legislation for ensuring compliance was “fit for purpose”.
Deputy Luce answered: “The authority to issue enforcement notices rests with the chief officer and not with myself as Minister.
“I’m therefore not able to explain the chief officer’s rationale for allowing a two-month compliance period.”
He continued: “Additionally, as I may be called upon to objectively determine appeal proceedings that may result from this enforcement action, I am unable to comment on the appropriateness of the compliance period set by the chief officer.
“However, I can say that the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 provides for a wide range of powers to secure compliance with enforcement notices, including prosecution, injunction and works in default.
“I consider these powers fit for purpose in instances of non-compliance with notices.”
Deputy Montfort Tadier, who last year co-ordinated a protest that saw almost 300 people gather at the beach to “show support for the protection of La Pulente and the wider coastline from privatisation and overdevelopment”, cited public criticism surrounding the two-month compliance period.
Deputy Luce said that the Planning Department would “always pursue non-compliance” but also noted that “every case is different and unique”.
“In every case I would like to think that we are fair to the person that we are issuing the notice to, to make sure that – where we do issue a notice with a time period – that the time period allows the person sufficient time to be able to put the situation correct,” he added.