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2.2 Deputy J.H. Young of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding the provision of affordable homes from each of the 5 States-owned sites identified in the Island Plan in June 2011:
Will the Minister advise what progress has been made by Property Holdings in the provision of affordable homes from each of the 5 States-owned sites which were identified in the Island Plan in June 2011, and will planning applications be submitted for the development of 150 affordable homes before 29th June 2012, because otherwise amendments will be needed to the Island Plan under Policy H1?
Senator P.F.C. Ozouf (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
The Assistant Minister has responsibility for this area. I will be taking all the other questions, however.
Deputy E.J. Noel (Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources - rapporteur):
I could be flippant and answer this in 2 words, which would be "good" and "yes", but I believe Members need a bit more detail than that. So with your indulgence, Sir, I would like spend a little bit more time giving a break down of, per site, where we are.
The Bailiff :
Not too much. Deputy E.J. Noel:
Thank you, Sir. Policy H1 identifies 5 sites in public ownership to be developed, in whole or in part, to provide at least 150 affordable homes. I will update the Members now on these 5 sites. The first is Le Coin in Ann Street. This site is currently being used by T.T.S. for public parking to supplement that already on Ann Court. It will become available for development by mid-2013 and a revised planning application is being progressed in the interim. This site previously had 23 one, 2 and 3-bedroom apartments and it is expected that a revised planning application will be delivered for a similar number of units on this site. The Summerland and ambulance station, which, in the previous question I referred to, Jersey Property Holdings, in conjunction with the S.o.J.D.C. (States of Jersey Development Company) are preparing residential schemes on the public land on these 2 sites. An outline planning application will be submitted by the deadline of 29th June 2012 and it will set out, as in the Island Plan, for a minimum of 150 social rented homes, being a mix of one, 2 and 3-bedroom flats and a number of townhouses. This alone will satisfy the H1 Policy requirements. The third site, the former J.C.G. (Jersey College for Girls) site, a detailed planning application is being prepared and will be submitted in September of this year. The regeneration steering group has agreed that 40 units will be identified as social rented lifelong homes for those who are over 55. The fourth site, the former D'Hautrée School site, is currently still being used by the Ministry for Education Sport and Culture as part of their Highlands campus. A detailed review of accommodation uses on the site will be undertaken later this year, and that will inform whether or not this site will be released for any alternative uses such as residential development. The fifth site is the South Hill offices. These sites remain in operational activity and therefore are not currently available for disposal. If I may quickly add, in addition to the H1 sites, fields 91 and 91A at Belle Vue, St. Brelade, have been transferred to the Housing Department to develop a minimum of 55 social rented homes, commencing in 2012. Therefore, I believe Members can gather from this that the States will honour its obligation in the Island Plan and produce at least 150 affordable homes.
- Deputy J.H. Young:
I would like to thank the Assistant Minister for that detailed answer. Could he confirm that all those details he has just given do not produce any first-time buyer homes and that they seem to be social rented homes? Also, in making that confirmation, could he also advise the House that he has been able to confirm what he said with the Minister for Treasury and Resources – and so he has agreement with what he said – so that there will not be any snags in those proposals coming forward?
Deputy E.J. Noel:
The Minister for Treasury and Resources and I are fully conversant. He knows exactly what notes I have in front of me. He probably has them in front of himself as well. So if I can deal with that latter part first. With regard to first-time buyer homes, we are still currently working on that and along with our partners, S.o.J.D.C., and in fact with the Department for Planning and Environment.
The Bailiff :
We move on to the next question...
- Deputy S. Power of St. Brelade :
Before we move on to the next question, could I ask the Assistant Minister to circulate that read reply to States Members, because it is just too long?
The Bailiff :
I understand why you ask that, Deputy , and I am sure the Assistant Minister will agree. For myself, I would have thought this was a question more suited to a written question than an oral one [Approbation], and that is why I am not going to allow any supplementary questions, other than the Deputy , because otherwise it would be unfair to other questioners.
Deputy E.J. Noel:
I would be delighted to forward that, and will do so by email, to save a few trees, later today.