Massive new housing development gets the green light

Tuesday 13 September 2016

A major new development of 169 homes in St Helier has been given the go ahead.

The scheme – to build the residential units, four commercial units, a community facility and almost 200 parking spaces on the former BOA Warehouse site in the north of St Helier – had been backed by the Planning department and the St Helier Roads Committee only for the Planning Applications Panel to turn it down.

But Ogier Planning lawyer Claire Smith won an appeal against a decision by a panel of politicians to turn down the scheme.

The appeal process included an independent report, which praised the “intelligent design” and described the change to the area as “positive and desirable.”

Environment Minister Steve Luce allowed the appeal in full and granted Planning permission.

Planning and construction lawyer Ms Smith, who represented Castle Properties (Jersey) Limited during the appeal process, said: "This is an important decision and demonstrates the strength of the statutory appeal process.

"The conclusions of the Independent Inspector, who visited the site twice and who met with local residents, are clear.

"He found that the listed buildings on the site would be preserved and in some cases enhanced, and that there was no parking or traffic-related reason to stop the scheme from going ahead, and crucially, that the overall density was not excessive."