A 155-bed four- or five-star international chain hotel will be built by the Airport in St Peter after privately funded plans were unanimously approved by a group of politicians.
The five-storey H-shaped stepped building – including a conference centre and a 15m swimming pool – received outline planning approval, meaning that its dimensions now have formal backing, with all detailed designs to be agreed at a later date.
The building will be 20.7m at its very highest point, which is two boxed-off units of plant machinery on its roof.
It was the second attempt for the applicant – the Strive Health Club next door – whose initial plans were rejected by the Planning Committee in November.
Strive managing director Ben Harvey, who leads the team behind the scheme, said he was “very pleased” with the outcome, having come back with a smaller five-storey hotel after the initial refusal.
Members of the committee, led by Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur, said it was one of the most difficult decisions it had ever had to make.
The plans received widespread support from various organisations, including the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Jersey, the nearby rugby club, Jersey Business and the government’s Economy Department, who all stressed the importance of the hotel to the Island’s visitor economy.
The approved plans are subject to a number of conditions and legal obligations, including the need for it to be no lower standard than a four-star hotel, and a requirement that the whole committee consider the next ‘revised’ stage of the application, rather than Planning officers.
