Development Control pre-application enquiries (FOI)

Request 

Copies of pre-application enquiries to the Development Control Section concerning the site called Les Ruettes, La Grande Route de St Jean since 2018. (The site can be known as the old BandQ site).

Response

The information you have requested is exempt under Article 26 (Information given in confidence) and Article 33 (Commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Pre-application advice in relation to this site was provided by the Development Control section in 2018. 

This advice will remain confidential, in accordance with the pre-application process, until such a time as a final planning application is submitted to the Development Control section for determination. No planning application has been submitted to date in relation to the 2018 advice, therefore the release of this information is currently exempt.

However, the planning process is transparent, and should an application be submitted in the future then all elements of any proposed development would be made public once a final application was submitted, therefore meeting any public interest requirements.

The early release of any pre-application advice would constitute a breach of confidentiality but could also have a detrimental effect on the commercial interests of the developer.  It will not further the public interest in this regard but only serve to disadvantage the developer's commercial relationships and negotiations with landowners, suppliers and other parties.

Articles applied

Article 26 - Information supplied in confidence

Information is exempt information if –

(a) it was obtained by the scheduled public authority from another person (including another public authority); and

(b) the disclosure of the information to the public by the scheduled public authority holding it would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).