Constable and takeaway owner clash again

Monday 29 November 2021

St. Brelade’s Constable and the owner of the Hideout have clashed again – this time over an “unacceptable” extension to the Off The Rails café.

Karl Sutton, who owns both dining spots, recently applied for retrospective planning permission to expand the scope of the Railway Walk-based tapas and pizza venue, and construct a store to the west of the site.

But Constable Mike Jackson is arguing that Planning should refuse it.

Pictured: One of Constable Jackson's concerns was around nearby play park toilet facilities being used past closing time.

In a letter to the department opposing the application, Constable Jackson said that Off The Rails had “started as a modest daytime kiosk but is being transformed into a fully fledged restaurant", which "the Parish considers this unacceptable.” 

He continued by saying that the parish was “not content” with the neighbouring play park toilet facilities being used by those using the restaurant after the park closes due to safety obligations, and that “child protection requirements dictate that there is no certainty that toilet facilities will any longer be available to the Off The Rails establishment.”

He mentioned that vehicles were parked on adjacent publicly administered park land, and that complaints had been received regarding noise from the ‘take away’ aspect of the business. 

He also said that the restaurant had “tapped into the foul sewer on the Parish playpark resulting in regular blockages having to be dealt with at Parish expense”, and that it had placed a “refrigerated store on Parish property without authorisation.” 

Constable Jackson also cited a petition from nearby residents - some of whom also voiced their opposition in a letter - regarding noise.

Asking for a review of the application, some neighbouring residents said they “feel that the cafe has expanded and changed over the past few years to the detriment of the neighbouring community.”

They claimed there was a “high level of noise" up until 22:00 at night, that the café was having a “detrimental impact on nature”, and leading to increased traffic, and increased levels of lighting.

“Ideally we would like change to the opening hours and alcohol license to end at 19:00 with customers vacating at 20:00,” they said.

This is the second time in recent months that the Parish has gone toe-to-toe with Mr Sutton

A legal battle recently broke out over a decision made to give the HideOut kiosk at La Pulente time-limited permit to operate on the slipway. It ended up costing the Parish at least £27,000 in fees. In the end, the kiosk was given permission to stay there until next summer.

Pictured: Owner Karl Sutton said there "is no enlargement" of the restaurant and that they remain the same size.

Commenting on the latest clash with the Parish, Mr Sutton told Express he was "surprised" and "concerned" at some of the Constable's comments.

“This seems to be another mispositioned situation. This is a minor retrospective planning application, applied for as requested by the Parish, so you can imagine how surprised I am by the constables' comments,” he said.

He said that “removable doors” had been put in to address noise issues Constable Jackson had mentioned, that it has remained at the same number of seats since and has never changed. He further claimed that the Constable had “supported" Off The Rails when it was first built.

“…If anything, all and any adjustments made subsequently were out of consideration for the surrounding residents and play park. There is no enlargement, we remain the same size,” he remarked. 

Addressing comments about the drainage, he said that “drainage system was agreed at the time and signed off correctly by planning and has never been a problem before”, and had never been mentioned prior to this year.

“We have always dealt with blockages due to kids putting sand and toilet paper etc down the toilets - they're kids, that's what happens, and the parish have never taken interest or passed comment until now,” he added.

He said the last time work was done on the toilets had been it had been his company in 2017, and that he had offered “numerous times to completely renovate the toilets at my own cost, if anything because those toilets were severely neglected by the parish, to which I was told it had to be put to tender. No tender has ever been put out, no work has been done and no improvements ever made.”

Mr Sutton added that it "simply isn't true" that a refrigeration unit had been placed on parish land. "There is no refrigeration unit - it is a storage shed for the park 'log cabin', for which the parish gave permission for," he explained.

He added that the Constable “has not once communicated any news of complaints or problems in the last nine years we've been there”, beyond a petition from a neighbour over noise earlier this year, which he said they subsequently addressed.

He further stated they “have never been contacted by the parish” or authorities over noise, and that the parish had never suggested a “need to revisit the licensing assembly to have the alcohol license amended due to noise or anti-social behaviour associated with Off The Rails.

“We have and still take our licensing laws very seriously and work within the rules that go with it.”

He added he was “concerned about the amount of time and parish resources” the Constable was putting in to “finding unreasonable issues”, and that “now as [the Constable] reaches the end of this third term, we are suddenly facing this, out of nowhere."

The application remains before Planning.