School-friendly sustainable homes development planned

Wednesday 02 October 2019

Plans have been put forward to transform an empty field in St. John with 16 sustainable homes, as well as a playing field, vegetable garden and wildlife pond for local schoolchildren.

The three-bedroom houses will be sold through Andium Homes at around £330,000, roughly the same price as those forming part the Samares Nurseries development.

Under the plans, the football pitch would be owned by the Parish, which would in turn lease it to the Education Department for a “peppercorn rent” of £1 a year. The Education Department will be responsible for the maintenance of the field as well as the insurance.

Currently, pupils at St. John’s School have no direct access to green space and several attempts to address this have been made in the past.

Pictured: If agreed, the development will give St. John's some "much-needed" green space. (Axis Mason)

As Field J535 – the proposed development site – sits right next to the school, it would mean that children wouldn’t have to be driven to the Recreation ground, where the Parish currently leases a pitch. 

The amenity area, which will be linked to the school via a direct pedestrian link, would also include a wildlife garden and vegetable patch. 

To make sure the land remains an amenity area for the school forever, the owner will require a 'no build' covenant to be placed on the area of land given to the Parish. 

Both St John’s School and the Education Minister, Senator Tracey Vallois, said the proposals were welcome and “much needed".

Pictured: The field is located directly next to the school.

In their Design and Sustainability Statement, Axis Mason - the architects behind the project - said no other site in the Parish could house a playing field and the other amenities for the school.

While the field, which has been in the hands of a local family for the past 60 years, is currently used by a tenant farmer, Axis Mason said it wouldn’t be suitable for farming anymore once the playing field and other amenities are built.

They would require over 3,200sqm, leaving just 4,452sqm, meaning the field could not be farmed “efficiently with modern machinery.”

The architects therefore said it “made sense” to use the remainder of the field to build homes, adding that the site had previously been proposed for First Time buyer housing in the previous Island Plan.

Pictured: Each house will have a garden, a garage and two parking spaces. (Axis Mason)

Axis Mason said no first time buyer homes have been built in St. John in the past 20 years, adding that St. John's Constable, Chris Taylor, received 70 replies when he wrote to parishioners inquiring whether there was demand for First Time Buyer homes. 

If the development is approved, all homes forming part of it will have a private garden, garage and two parking spaces. Additional parking spaces will be provided for visitors. 

They will be built in a traditional design “to complement the rural landscape” with painted rendered walls and a mix of stale and pantile roofs, and include low flow water appliances, such as lower capacity flushing cisterns and aerated shower heads, as well as energy-saving lighting. 

Upon completion, the homes will be available to purchasers with connections with the Parish through Andium Homes.