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A Senator has launched a major push to pave the way for building 65 homes in St. Peter, urging States Members to vote in favour of rezoning 'green' land to address what she terms a "human rights issue".
Efforts to get the ‘Ville du Manoir’ development, which is supposed to be located on two fields opposite the Sir George De Carteret pub, off the ground have so far been frustrated by concerns over the Green Zone and the provisions of the Island Plan.
Proposals for the major development of three-bedroom homes were first submitted in September 2017 after years of planning by the Parish's previous Constable, John Refault. They were rejected in April 2018 by the then-Minister for the Environment, Deputy Steve Luce, to prevent "harm to the protected Green Zone".
Deputy Luce said his decision had been base based on the "careful" consideration of an independent planning inspector’s report and recommendation and that he considered the proposal to be against the Island Plan approved by the States.
Since then, however, parishioners have been pushing to resurrect the idea, with a narrow majority voting in favour of the development - 85 for and 74 against - at a St. Peter Parish Assembly held last month.
Pictured: Plans for the 65 homes were first submitted in 2017.
Senator Kristina Moore, a former St. Peter Deputy, is now attempting to move things along further.
She is asking States Members to vote in favour of amending the Island Plan 2011 to “rezone” Field 632 and part of Field 559, like they did with a field located on La Grande Route de Faldouet in St. Martin in 2014.
In a report outlining her proposals, Senator Moore said that a "human rights issue" was at the heart of the idea. Referring to the States’ focus on the Rights of the Child, she wrote in a report that “every child has the right to have the basic needs of people such as food, shelter, water, clothing and health care", adding that a child’s physical environment affects their overall wellbeing.
However, Senator Moore said that many children were living through "uncertain" circumstances amid Jersey’s “most significant housing crisis in a generation".
Pictured: The number of applications for “assisted home ownership schemes” has dramatically increased over the last five years.
The former St. Peter Deputy drew the attention to the growing housing crisis by comparing the number of families registered for “assisted home ownership schemes” in 2014 (188) to the same total at the end of February (1,287). She went on to highlight that in just two months, 64 new applicants have come forward.
She wrote: “It is a sobering thought that even if Ville du Manoir was developed with the 65 homes proposed by Andium Homes, this supply would only just meet the growth in Gateway demand for the first two months of 2019.”
She described the ‘Ville du Manoir’ scheme - in which 244 families, including 38 with children, have shown an interest - was “just one example of an attempt to meet the demand for home" and warned States Members that new sites like were not approved now, there might not be any new development until 2025 or 2026 “at the absolute earliest".
Senator Moore added: “The States Assembly has an opportunity to take action now to address this urgent need for homes and make a positive difference to the lives of 65 families, rather than waiting for the new Island Plan.”
Pictured: In red, the site Senator Moore wants to rezone, in yellow, the limits proposed by Deputy Luce. (Google Maps)
Deputy Luce has suggested an amendment to Senator Moore’s proposals “to protect the centre of St. Peter’s Village as an open space for posterity”. He is proposing to only include Field 559 in the rezoning in order to preserve the opportunity for “an open village green amenity-type area, and properly considered and much-needed traffic improvements.”
Given that Field 559 is approximately the same size as the current proposals, Deputy Luce said that there would be “little or no reduction” in the number of homes that could be constructeds should his amendment be adopted.
Both Senator Moore's and Deputy Luce's proposals will be debated in the Assembly on 30 April.
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