This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.
Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.
WQ.48/2022
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. MARTIN
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 7th FEBRUARY 2022 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 14th FEBRUARY 2022
Question
“In relation to the proposed extension of the Coastal National Park, will the Minister advise –
- how many additional businesses will be included in the area; and
- what consideration, if any, has been given to the impact on those existing businesses which will find themselves now part of the Park?”
Answer
- no data is held about the number of businesses that may be included and which currently operate within the existing Coastal National Park, or the area to be embraced by the proposed extension of it.
- the draft bridging Island Plan seeks to support sustainable economic growth and productivity, where it involves development, throughout the island and provides a planning policy framework to enable this to happen.
It explicitly acknowledges that the coast and countryside – including the area proposed to be embraced by the extension of the CNP - are working environments and the development of agriculture and other employment uses that support the rural and island economy will be enabled here, where a countryside or coastal location is justified and appropriate.
The plan acknowledges that, in the rural economy, there is a need to allow for positive and sustainable diversification or change that will support the agricultural industry in achieving greater productivity through new and evolving practices, which may require some limited forms of new development in the countryside. The plan also supports, where appropriate, the conversion of redundant traditional farm buildings, the re-use of modern agricultural buildings, the clearance of derelict glass house sites and restoration of land, equine-related uses and activities, and facilities required by the fishing and aquaculture sector.
As in the case under the current planning policy regime for both the green zone and the Coastal National Park in the Revised 2011 Island Plan, all development proposals, including those for business, around the coast and in the countryside will need to demonstrate that particular care has been taken to ensure that they can be sympathetically integrated into the locality and that they do not harm landscape character or biodiversity. The Integrated Landscape and Seascape Character Assessment provides key evidence and guidance that will be used to consider future development proposals throughout the countryside under the auspices of the new island Plan, subject to its approval.
Businesses, and their representative organisations, have been engaged as part of the development of the draft bridging Island Plan, and the Minister has given due regard to representations made, which have also been considered and reviewed by independent planning inspectors.