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A decision made 19 April 2010 regarding: Field 633, La Verte Rue, St. Peter - procedure for Island Plan H3 Category 'A' housing sites.

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2010-0054
Decision Summary Title:	Field 633 St Peter and procedure for Island Plan H3 sites		Date of Decision Summary:	19 April 2010
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Planning		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title:	Field 633 St Peter and procedure for Island Plan H3 sites - Draft Report and Proposition		Date of Written Report:	19 April 2010
Written Report Author:	Director of Planning		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Field 633 St Peter and procedure for Island Plan H3 sites
Decision(s): The Minister approved the Draft Report and Proposition
Reason(s) for Decision: The Minister is advised that it is necessary to obtain States approval before granting planning permission for an H3 site, and to clarify the procedure for any other H3 sites that may come forward for development
Resource Implications: None
Action required: The Greffier of the States be advised to lodge the proposition immediately and seek a date for debate as soon as possible.
Signature:		Position Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed): 19 April 2009

Field 633, La Verte Rue, St. Peter - procedure for Island Plan H3 Category 'A' housing sites

PROPOSITION

The States are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -

a) to confirm the procedural requirement that to enable the granting of permission for Category A housing purposes for any of the sites listed under policy H3 of the 2002 Island Plan, the States Assembly must have first agreed to their development

b) to endorse the intention of the Minister for Planning and Environment to grant planning permission (under reference P/2009/2082) for the development of 14 homes for the elderly and a caretaker's dwelling at Field 633, St Peter.

REPORT

The Minister for Planning and Environment has received advice that it is necessary, to enable the granting of permission for Category A housing purposes for any of the sites listed under policy H3 of the 2002 Island Plan, that the States Assembly must have first agreed to its development. Indeed, the only other Policy H3 site which to date has been developed, namely Field 812A at Bagot Manor Farm in St Saviour, was approved in March 2005 after reference to and approval by the States.

While clearly this procedure is implied in the Island Plan, and it has certainly been the expectation of States Members who were in the States when the 2002 Island Plan was adopted in July 2002, the wording contained in the Island Plan is not sufficiently explicit. Accordingly, in the interest of clarity, it is important that this procedural requirement is agreed by the States, and the support of the States to part a) of the proposition is sought.

The issue has become apparent in respect of a particular application for Field 633 in St Peter. The Parish of St Peter has applied to construct 14 social-rented homes for the elderly, and 1 caretaker's home, on land it owns at Field 633, St Peter (which is located on the attached plan). The proposal is to meet a proven need for this type of accommodation in the Parish of St Peter.

From a wider policy perspective, the Minister is striving to ensure that new development to meet the Island's housing needs should be accommodated as far as practicable within existing developed areas and on 'brownfield' sites rather than encroaching into open 'greenfield' areas. This indeed is the whole thrust of the policies for new housing development under the Draft Island Plan review which was published in September 2009 for public consultation.

The Minister does however consider that there is reasonable and sufficient justification to approve the proposed development at Field 633 for the following reasons:

1. Field 633 is a small, irregular shaped site comprising approximately 1 vergée (0.4 acres) of land. Before its recent clearance the site included a number of small sheds plus hardstanding areas, and was therefore a brown-field site. It has no effective use for agricultural purposes.

2. The application proposal for Field 633 has been submitted by the Parish itself to provide social-rented homes for the elderly or disabled of the Parish to meet a specific need that could only be satisfied in St Peter. There is no suitable and available alternative site so close to the village centre, shops and bus route. To this extent its development accords with policy H12 of the 2002 Island Plan – “development to meet special requirements”

3. The site has been approved for acquisition and development by a Parish Assembly.

4. The planning application for the proposed development attracted just one objection letter from the occupiers of a neighbouring property but their concerns were unfounded.

5. The Draft Island Plan review proposes the zoning of Field 633 for Category A housing and, following the recent public consultation exercise which ended on 31 March 2010, no representations/objections were received on this proposal.

The Minister considered the application at his meeting on 7 April 2010, when he decided to grant planning permission. The Minister is satisfied that consultation on the application is sufficient to prove that the site is suitable for development, as required by Policy H3. However, the Minister is of the opinion that there is a legitimate expectation of the public and the States Assembly, in the context of the existing approved Island Plan, that sites listed in Policy H3 will be brought back to the States to be rezoned for Category A housing following public consultation.

Accordingly, the States are requested to endorse the Minister's intention to grant planning permission.

Senator F E Cohen

Minister for Planning and Environment