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WQ.236/2025
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER NORTH
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON TUESDAY 27th MAY 2025 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 3rd JUNE 2025
Question
"Will the Minister provide a comprehensive list of all property types that would be considered as existing buildings' for the purpose of the Supplementary Planning Guidance for Housing outside the built up area?"
Answer
(Note to States Greffe: this also includes an appendix)
The supplementary planning guidance: Housing outside the built-up area provides an interpretation of those building types to which the provisions of the Bridging Island Plan Policy H9: Housing outside the built-up area, apply. It includes the following (emphasis added):
3.2 Buildings
Both Policy SP2 – Spatial strategy; and Policy PL5 – Countryside, coast and marine environment state that residential development outside the built-up area will only be supported where it involves the conversion, extension and/or subdivision of existing buildings.
The pre-amble to both policies - together with Policy H9 – Housing outside the built-up area itself - make it clear that in the context of these policies, buildings' refers to existing dwellings; traditional farm or listed buildings; and some employment buildings.
The substance of any supplementary planning guidance has to be complementary to the provision of the Island Plan: it cannot change or undermine the policies of the Island Plan and has to be consistent with it. This is important because it is the States Assembly that approves the Island Plan.
The meaning of existing buildings', in the context of Policy H9: Housing outside the built-up area is, therefore, already defined by the approved bridging Island Plan, as amended.
As clearly set out in the bridging Island Plan (and also in the draft plan [1]that was lodged au Greffe (P.36/2021) for amendment and issued for consultation in April 2021) under the section entitled How to use the Island Plan' it states that it is important to have regard to the plan as a whole and not to treat a policy or proposal in isolation.'
What this means is that when considering a proposal to develop new housing outside the built-up area, reliance cannot just be placed on, for example, the strategic policies of the plan (such as SP2 and PL5). Consideration needs to be given to the plan as a whole and must include all relevant policies. For the development of new homes outside the built-up area this must, therefore, include the detailed policy that specifically deals with housing outside the built-up area (i.e. Policy H9): the provisions of all of these policies (SP2, PL5 and H9) need to be considered together.
Thus, the BIP Strategic Policy SP2 – Spatial strategy; and Policy PL5 – Countryside, coast and marine environment state that residential development outside the built-up area will only be supported where it involves the conversion, extension and/or subdivision of existing buildings; and Policy H9 – Housing outside the built-up area, qualifies those forms of existing buildings that might be allowed to be developed for the provision of new homes.
Policy H9 states, on its face, as amended and approved (see appendix 1), that proposals for the development of new housing (leading to the creation of a separate household) will only be supported in respect of the following building types (subject to other specified tests):
• the sub-division or extension of an existing dwelling (Policy H9 (2));
• the optimal use of a traditional farm building (Policy H9 (3));
• the optimal use of a listed building (Policy H9 (3)); and
• the conversion of an existing redundant employment building (Policy H9(4)).
No other building types are defined on the face of the policy.
The addition of the explicit reference in the strategic policies of the plan (at SP2 and PL5) to the conversion, extension and/or subdivision of existing buildings' outside of the built-up area was approved by the States Assembly as an amendment to the plan.[2]
This amendment also made minor amendment to Policy H9 (Policy H8 of the draft plan); as did the amendment of the Minister.[3] These amendments, as approved, were faithfully translated into the published plan. [4]
Neither of these amendments to Policy H9 (then H8) sought to change the types of existing buildings that might be converted, extended or sub-divided to create new homes over and above those building types already explicitly provided for on the face of the policy.
It is the definition of existing buildings set out in Policy H9, as approved by the States Assembly, that has thus been faithfully adopted in the Minister's guidance.
APPENDIX 1 (see over)