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STATES OF JERSEY
JERSEY GAS WORKS SITE: DEVELOPMENT BY ANDIUM HOMES LIMITED (P.114/2017) – COMMENTS
Presented to the States on 12th January 2018 by the Minister for the Environment
STATES GREFFE
2017 P.114 Com.
COMMENTS
Context
Any proposal to develop the former Jersey Gas site will need to secure planning permission before it can proceed to implementation. Notwithstanding the outcome of debate of this proposition, the merits of any such proposal will need to be considered and assessed through the open, transparent and public process of the determination of a planning application.
Any such application will be determined under the legal powers granted by the Assembly to the Planning Committee, who have been appointed by the Assembly for this express purpose.
Any appeal lodged subsequent to the determination of a planning application will be considered by the Minister for the Environment.
On the basis of the above, the Minister and Members who may have a role with the Planning Committee, will need to give consideration as to whether or how they engage with any debate on this issue relative to any future decision that they may be required to take in respect of any subsequent planning application or appeal.
Planning application process and key material considerations
Debates about the merits of development proposals are best considered in the context of planning applications where detailed plans, and their supporting justifications, are publicised, scrutinised, and properly considered against all of the other relevant material considerations. This includes the comments of those affected by them, together with an open, clear and comprehensive consideration of the planning policy framework against which planning applications are required to be assessed. These key factors are not available during a States debate.
By way of background, it is relevant to note some of the key aspects of existing planning policy and guidance that will need to be taken into account in any determination of a planning application for development of the former Jersey Gas site:
Revised 2011 Island Plan (July 2014)
To ensure the provision of land and development opportunities to meet the Island's housing needs in a way that makes best use of land that is already developed, and which protects the Island's coast and countryside, Policy GD3 requires that the highest reasonable density is achieved for all developments, where it is commensurate with good design, adequate amenity space and parking, and without undue impact on neighbouring properties.
This policy is designed to ensure that where sites are redeveloped to provide new homes, the optimum number of homes is delivered.
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North of Town Masterplan ("NoTMP") (June 2011)
The masterplan proposes that the site would be suitable to provide for a significant new residential development, capable of delivering up to 300 homes and just over 300 underground car-parking spaces.
Jersey Gas Site Development Brief (September 2013: Revision A)
Following the adoption of the NoTMP, identifying this as a key residential regeneration site, a specific development brief was prepared to assist and enable its development. This was adopted and issued by the Minister as supplementary planning guidance, following public consultation.
A key aim of the development brief was to provide a predominantly residential development that contributes to the provision of affordable homes.
The development brief also updated the means by which the public parking requirements, as originally identified in the NoTMP for the site, might be met. The masterplan made provision for a biennial review of parking needs to be undertaken and, following an independent review of parking needs in St. Helier [1], it was determined that the provision of public parking would no longer be required to be provided on the site. It was found, at the time, that the need to provide public parking on key development sites in the North of Town ("NoT") was acting as a constraint to their redevelopment, and would not bring forward parking in the most cost-efficient or suitable format for public use.
Consequently, this requirement for public parking at the Jersey Gas, and other NoT sites, was replaced by the provision of a negotiated commuted sum which would be used to support the initiatives of the Sustainable Transport Policy. This Parking Needs Study' further recommended that a separate site in the north of town should be acquired with any such commuted funds, to provide nearby public parking in a more cost-effective way.
All of the above, amongst other things, will be material factors in the determination of any planning application for the development of the Jersey Gas site. Any such application will need to demonstrate clearly how the anticipated delivery of homes on the Jersey Gas site, as envisaged in the NoTMP, might be delivered elsewhere.
It will also need to demonstrate clearly how public parking might best be provided, having regard to both the original recommendations of the NoTMP, and its subsequent revision as reflected in the revised development brief for the Jersey Gas site: this will require discussion and engagement with the Department for Infrastructure, as the Island's strategic transport authority, to enable any subsequent planning application to be determined.
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