Gym and food truck parking included in updated South Hill plan

Wednesday 16 November 2022

A dedicated gym for residents and space for a food truck to service the children’s play area have been included in updated plans for the redevelopment of the old Planning offices at South Hill.

The project, which is being managed by the publicly owned Jersey Development Company, will see 139 one-, two- and three-bedroomed flats built.

The company hope that the plans - which have 14 fewer homes that the original plan – will be resubmitted by the end of this month and go back to the Planning Committee for a decision around the end of March.

The first incarnation was deemed too high and obtrusive by the group of politicians, who rejected the 153-unit plan in May.

Following a redesign, the rear crescent of the main building, which backs on to the hillside, has had two floors removed and a separate block to the north-west has had a floor removed.

Pictured: Blocks were made lower and smaller in the redesign.

A ground-floor café to cater for the redesigned children’s park has been replaced with an apartment. 

It is now envisaged that refreshments will be provided by a food truck, which will have its own space and access to services, and licensed by the Parish of St. Helier.

The change was prompted by concerns that there would not be enough trade to warrant a year-round eatery.

A listed granite building behind the old L-shaped Planning offices will become a gym.

At least 15% of the units, so 21 of them, will be able to be purchased by first-time buyers through a shared equity team set up by JDC. This could go up as the exact percentage is yet to be set.

Pictured: The updated plans, due to be submitted by the end of this month, includes space and connected services for a food truck.

An attempt by Deputy Sam Mezec to increase this percentage to 50% failed in the last Assembly after the then Government argued it would make the project unviable.

JDC are currently overseeing the building of the Horizon apartments on the Waterfront, with the first 108 apartments of ‘Horizon East’ being handed over to purchasers from 13 January.

The second block, the 88-apartment ‘Horizon South’ will be ready in April while the 54-apartment ‘Horizon West’, which is closest to the Radisson hotel, has an October hand-over date, although that may come forward.

The company is also preparing a detailed application to build around 1,000 flats and various leisure, retail and public spaces on the Waterfront; and building a new office block in the International Finance Centre, which will be ready for tenants by the end of next year.