La Collette Waste Management Site – Development Plan (P.17/2023): amendment.

STATES OF JERSEY

LA COLLETTE WASTE MANAGEMENT SITE – DEVELOPMENT PLAN (P.17/2023): AMENDMENT

Lodged au Greffe on 27th June 2023 by the Connétable of St. Helier Earliest date for debate: 18th July 2023

STATES GREFFE

2023  P.17 Amd.

LA COLLETTE WASTE MANAGEMENT SITE – DEVELOPMENT PLAN  (P.17/2023): AMENDMENT

____________

1  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (a) –

In sub-paragraph (v) –

1. after the words "publicly accessible" insert the words ", on foot and by bicycle,"; and
2. after the words "the perimeter of the site" for the words "once landscaping and restoration is complete" substitute the words "as soon as possible".

2  PAGE 2, PARAGRAPH (b) –

After  the  words  "the  Minister  for  the Environment" insert  the words  ",  in consultation  with  the  relevant  Parish,",  and  after  the  words  "any  site requirements" insert the words "across the Parishes".

 CONNÉTABLE OF ST. HELIER

Note:  After this amendment, the proposition would read as follows –

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

1. to support the short/medium term Plan for Waste Management at La Collette Reclamation Site Phase II to include:

1. a combined waste management approach for hazardous waste and inert soils under a  La Collette Waste Management Site – Development Plan', as detailed in drawing 22023-100;
2. the formation of the East Headland' and South Headland' by deposition of  hazardous  waste  in  cells  as per  plans  submitted  under  application P/2016/1647;
3. the formation of the West Headland' by deposition of inert waste soils in a mound;
4. the landscaping and restoration of the East Headland and South Headland as per the plans submitted under application P/2016/1647; and
5. the creation of a publicly accessible, on foot and by bicycle, one-mile-long coastal path around the perimeter of the site as soon as possible; and

2. to request that, in the period enabled by the short/medium term plan, the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister for the Environment, in consultation with the relevant Parish, develop the long-term plan for the future waste strategy for Jersey, and any site requirements across the Parishes are used to inform the next review of the Island Plan, 2026 onwards.

Page - 2

P.17/2023 Amd.

REPORT

The purpose of these amendments is twofold: in respect of the long-awaited accessible route around the La Collette reclamation site in St Helier, to ensure that it caters for cyclists as well as walkers and joggers and that the creation of this important facility is prioritised rather than being delayed interminably; and in respect of the development of future waste strategies, to ensure that the Parishes are included in the investigation of potential sites which are not to be restricted to St Helier.

1. As is pointed out in the Report to P.17/2023, the original intention was that the perimeter of the reclamation site would provide a host of leisure opportunities including marine uses; however, the Buncefield incident in 2005 means that these are no longer safe, at least for as long as the fuel farm remains in its present location, although public access remains possible, once the route has been created.

I amended the 2011 Island Plan to ensure that public access around the perimeter of the reclamation site was specifically included in the Plan; in 2018 I asked the Minister for the Environment for a progress report and was told that a short section of the perimeter path had been opened by the Department for Infrastructure a week earlier. The Minister agreed with me that progress had been slow and hoped the process would speed up, yet five years later we are being informed on page 9 of P.17/2023:

The East and South Headlands are estimated to take 5 – 7 years to form. The coastal path will be developed thereafter.' Such a timetable is unacceptable and would not have been put before the States Assembly had the provisions of my amendment to the Island Plan been complied with, namely that the Minister should work with stakeholders to achieve the maximum degree of public access that can be achieved without public risk (my italics).'

2. Our Government needs to get into the habit of working more closely with the Parishes as it develops strategies which will impact them, especially in the area of waste management, nor should it be assumed that St Helier will continue to take the lion's share of the Island's inert and hazardous waste.

Financial and manpower implications

Increasing the priority of facilitating public access to the perimeter route around the reclamation site may have financial and resource implications and no doubt the Minister will advise the States Assembly what these are in his response to these amendments.

Page - 3

P.17/2023 Amd.