Field No. 588, St.Ouen: Village Green and Dwellings

FIELD No. 588, ST. OUEN: VILLAGE GREEN AND DWELLINGS _______________

Lodged au Greffe on 24th August 1999 by Senator J.A. Le Maistre

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STATES OF JERSEY

STATES GREFFE

175             1 9 9 9   P . 1 1 6          

Price code: A

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -

to advise the Planning and Environment Committee that they support a proposal by the parish of St. Ouen to establish a village green on part of Field No. 588 and also to express their support for the grant of permission by that Committee for an application by Mrs. M. Langlois (the owner of Field No. 588) to construct two dwellings in the north-eastern corner of that same field.

SENATOR J.A. LE MAISTRE

REPORT

Background

A Board of Administrative Appeal met on Monday 30th November 1998 at St. Ouen's Parish Hall to hear a complaint by Mrs. M. Langlois against a decision of the Planning and Environment Committee to reject an application by Mrs. Langlois to construct two dwellings on part of Field No. 588, La Route de Vinchelez, St. Ouen.

The findings and recommendations of the Board were published on 29th December 1998. The main conclusion of the Board was contained in paragraph 5.7 of the report in the following terms -

" A c c o r dingly, the Board finds that in relation to the total plan for the field, the decision to reject the planning application for two dwellings on part of Field 588, La Route de Vinchelez, St.  Ouen, could not have been made by a reasonable body of persons after proper consideration of all the facts, and accordingly requests the Planning and Environment Committee to advise it, within a period of three months of the date of this report, of the steps which have been taken to reconsider the matter and the result of that reconsideration." The report and findings document of the Board of Administrative Appeal is available for public inspection and therefore I do not propose to cover all the details in this report.

I will outline the history and the main reasons why I believe that Mrs. Langlois' request should be supported.

During the years preceding the adoption of the Island Plan a number of re-zoning proposals relating to St. Ouen's Village development were brought to the States for approval by the Island Development Committee (as it then was). It was during that time that the then Connétable of St.  Ouen, Mr J.P. Pirouet, had approached Mrs. A. Hacquoil (who was then quite elderly) with a view to the Parish acquiring the field next to the Parish Hall (Field No. 588) in order to establish a Village Green. Discussions were held in the early eighties between the Connétable , the two Procureurs du Bien Public and officers of the Planning Department, when the possibility of establishing a Village Green was explored.

The Island Plan, which was adopted by the States in 1987, clearly shows the site as being well within the White Zone and there was no reference whatsoever within any proposition that the field in question should be retained as a Village Green. There is, however, reference to Field 588 in a report attached to a proposition by the Island Development Committee lodged "au Greffe" by that Committee on 18th September 1984. In paragraph 4 of the report it is stated "The Village Plan envisages that the

adjoining Field 588 might in time, be acquired and developed' by the Parish as a village green which would complement the aged persons housing scheme". I wish to repeat that Field 588 has never been the subject of a specific proposition to the States except that it was included within the area zoned as White land for the St. Ouen Village Development.

The application by Mrs M. Langlois resulted from an approach by the Connétable of St. Ouen in 1997. An agreement was reached in principle by the Connétable and the owner that, if permission was obtained by Mrs. Langlois to construct two dwellings (for her two children) on part of Field 588, the Parish would be able to develop a village green on the remaining part (measuring in excess of two vergées) of the field.

The only other occasion that this particular field has been the subject of an application was in the early 1980s when Mrs Langlois' mother, Mrs.  Hacquoil, agreed to sell a strip of land to the Parish to construct a bus lay-by and a bus shelter.

The States has always been reluctant to acquire land required for recreational purposes, by compulsory purchase.  I do not see this matter as being any different.

Conclusion

The Parish has an opportunity to establish an amenity for the parishioners and has reached an agreement with the owner. The construction of the two dwellings has not been opposed, and a letter dated 3rd November 1997 from the Connétable to the Planning and Environment Committee made it quite clear that he fully supported the application by Mrs.  Langlois.

Under the circumstances I believe that the States should support the initiative by the Parish of St. Ouen and also support the application by Mrs. Langlois.