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The States of Jersey Development Company has forked out more than half-a-million to try and get a plan to build more than 130 apartments at South Hill over the line after the development was first rejected for being too big last year.
The public-owned developer wants to knock down the long-empty former Planning Offices which overlook the Harbour and replace it with 139 units spread over three stepped buildings in the former quarry.
However, its proposals have been twice rejected by the Planning Committee – in May last year, and again in March 2023.
In October, the taxpayer-owned organisation appealed against the second refusal to an independent inspector, who will recommend to the Environment Minister if the scheme – which is lower and smaller than JDC’s first incarnation – should be approved or not.
Pictured: An artist's impression of the development from the English Harbour. (JDC / FeildenCleggBradleyStudios)
Figures released yesterday by the Treasury Minister – who acts on behalf of the public as shareholder – showed that overall costs for the project up until the end of September 2023 stood at £3.28m.
Of this, £1.88m was spent on “professional costs” associated with the first rejected planning application”, while a further £482,000 was spent on the second version. £228,000 was spent on planning application fees.
Costs for the planning appeal stood at £37,000.
Acquiring the land needed for the development, including stamp duty, cost £229,000, while site and ground investigations were £416,000.
The day-long appeal hearing was held before Planning Inspector David Hainsworth – whose report is yet to be published – at the beginning of October.
Speaking at the hearing in support of the appeal, Housing Minister David Warr announced that the percentage of the 139 units that would join a shared-equity scheme for first-time buyers would increase from 15% – which is the minimum set out in legally binding planning policy – to 25%.
He went on to describe the proposed scheme as a “world-class development” that he felt had “thoughtfully responded to the space and setting and the need to create a liveable place for all its residents”.
Pictured: An artist's impression of the development from Victoria Pier. (JDC/FeildenCleggBradleyStudios)
However, arguing on behalf of the Planning Committee which had already twice rejected the scheme, Planning Officer Jonathan Durbin said: “The proposal is too large, too dominant, too tall and too intrusive.
"Views from the Glacis Field, nearby hillside and the top of Mount Bingham would be harmed to an unacceptable level by its scale and mass."
But planning consultant John Nicholson, for JDC, argued that the Bridging Island Plan, and official documents supporting it, listed key town vistas that needed to be protected, and the view from Mount Bingham wasn’t one of them.
Just one week before the hearing, JDC's plans for the Waterfront were comprehensively rejected by a panel of politicians set up to determine the application. Read Express's in-depth analysis of why it was rejected here.
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