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3.3 Deputy J.H. Young of St. Brelade of the Minister for Planning and Environment regarding the fulfilment of the 2011 Island Plan policy commitments for St. Aubin and St. Brelade 's Bay:
Will the Minister inform the Assembly whether he has yet fulfilled the 2011 Island Plan policy commitments for St. Aubin and St. Brelade's Bay and implemented the plan's proposals to ensure that all development is sympathetic to its context and does not detract from the visual amenity and public enjoyment of those localities, and if not, will he explain why not and state when he proposes to implement the policies?
Deputy R.C. Duhamel of St. Saviour (The Minister for Planning and Environment):
The Deputy is well aware that I have not yet adopted any Supplementary Planning Guidance either for St. Aubin or St. Brelade's Bay as enabled by proposal 14 of the 2011 Island Plan. The proposal to undertake this work came from an amendment to the plan proposed by the then Deputy for St. Brelade with the support of other local Members. However, I have been only too willing to work with the St. Brelade planning group to help scope and prepare this work. I personally met with the group on a number of occasions and my department has provided it with advice and assistance to take this work forward in partnership, as a response to this locally identified need for further planning guidance within specific areas of the Parish. However, despite the apparent desire for this work to be undertaken, the local commitment to take this forward in the Parish has not been sustained and it has thus yet to progress further. I am happy and willing to sit down and work with any St. Brelade members or community groups to look at how such projects might be resourced and progressed over the remainder of the planned period.
- Deputy J.H. Young:
I am grateful for the Minister's commitment at the end of his answer. Can he confirm that his willingness to provide resource includes a willingness to provide funding in order to provide professional support to that local group in order to ensure that the job is done to the standard that his own department and he requires?
Deputy R.C. Duhamel:
I am happy to commit my officers as far as I am able to commit them. But in terms of providing sums of monies to be spent by individual groups on their own account, I think that would be something that needed further discussion.
- Senator S.C. Ferguson:
I will confess a slight conflict here. I understand that the planning group were ignored by the Minister's officers. Will he confirm that his officers will take notice of any representations made by the group to his department?
Deputy R.C. Duhamel:
I am sorry to hear that perhaps this misconception exists. As far as I am concerned, I think my officers have always shown themselves to be extremely willing to assist the creation of these groups but I must stress the point, the Planning Department as set up at the moment does not have extensive funds in order to provide seed corn monies or whatever, for the sponsoring of individual groups. That said, we do remain ready and willing to assist the work to be undertaken in a partnership approach using ordinary office time.
- Deputy J.H. Young:
On a question of resource: has the Minister looked at the last plan that was produced in 1989 and looked at the quality of it and formed a view whether or not this sort of thing can be done by a local group without professional support to ensure that what comes forward finally in the plan is robust and does the job properly? Will he confirm that he is aware of that and recognises that need to have that professional resource?
Deputy R.C. Duhamel:
I do recognise that but I must stress it is a 3-way partnership. It is the Planning Department and its officers and the Minister. It is the individual planning groups and community groups from a local perspective and indeed it is, to an extent, professional outside help in order to write the reports and to bring everything together in the way that the Deputy has described.