Planning Trends

Richard Rondel asked the following question:

"Would the Minister make available a list of residential planning applications for three properties or more that are currently waiting to be determined together with the dates that the applications were submitted to the department?"

There are a number of fields which have planning applications, but apart from that, I'd suggest that there are three main trends.

One is the demolition of single dwellings, and their replacement with apartments. There are not a huge amount of those, but the trend is clearly to fit as many people on as small an area per person as can be done. This is obviously very profitable for the developer, as the sale price of each portion can be significantly higher when totalled than the single dwelling would fetch on the market.

The second trend is the the demolition and loss of hotels which continues to take place. It would be interesting to know how many hotels actually still exist, and how many have been lost each year over the last five years. Is this a trend which is diminishing, as the number of hotels begins to match the demand from tourism?

Or is the kind of hotel which survives largely likely to be one which sources a good proportion of its income from the Island internally, by way of health facilities, swimming and like amenities, and conference centres for both out of Island but equally importantly local conferences and business related seminars?

It is, I think, notable that a some of the hotels that have planning applications, and are on the way out, are those who have good facilities in terms of locality, and proximity to bays and beaches. The entire stretch along the promenade at Havres des Pas will soon be largely denuded of hotels, the La Plage being the first to go, now some time ago, and all being replaced with apartments. The bucket and spade tourism is still here, but it is not nearly such a significant factor as it was in the golden post-war heyday, and out of town places away from main roads are more at risk of going.

The third trend is for businesses to close, and their premises to be developed into apartments or dwellings. The most notable example of this is Jersey Potteries, although that has also suffered from the decline in tourism. I think that there is also a tendency (over the past five years and perhaps longer) for out of town businesses to get less trade in their locality, as strapped for cash customers tend to shop around a lot more. But there is quite a variety in those listed, the common factor being that they are out of town, and hence the residential buildings taking their place will fetch a fairly substantial price.

Here are some of the examples of these trends, given in reply to that question.

Single Dwellings to Apartments

Tamaris, La Grande Route de la Cote, St Clement
Demolish existing dwelling. Construct 4 No. apartments.

Ker du Pons, le Mont du Petit Port, St Brelade
Demolish existing dwelling. Construct 5 No. apartments and 2 No. dwellings.
Model Available. AMENDED PLANS: Construct 4 No. apartments and 2 No. dwellings.

Victoria Cottage, La Rue des Boulees, Trinity
Demolish existing dwelling. Construct 3 No. dwellings. Model available.

Hotels to Dwellings / Apartments

Les Charrieres Hotel, Le Mont des Charrieres, St Peter
Demolish existing hotel. Construct 10 No. dwellings.

Beau Couperon Hotel, Le Mont de Rozel, St Martin
Demolish existing hotel and restaurant, retaining registered walls. Construct 10 No. apartments with basement parking.

Cheval Roc Hotel, La Rue des Charrieres, St John
Convert existing hotel into 22 No. flats and construct parking area to the West of Condora. Various external alterations. AMENDED PLANS: Elevational changes to existing building. Parking layout alterations. Transport statement submitted. FURTHER AMENDMENTS: Demolish part of building to West. Reduce number of units to 19, and alter mix to 12 No. 1 beds, 5 No. 2 beds and 2 No. 3 beds. Alter parking layout.

Hotel des Pierres, Le Mont de la Greve D'Lecq, St Ouen
Demolish existing hotel and construct 3 storey apartment building comprising 13 No. apartments with covered parking. AMENDED PLANS: Amended design. Number of units reduced to 10.

Le Chalet Hotel Site, La Rue de la Corbiere, St Brelade
Construct 3 No. 4 bed dwellings and 1 No. 5 bed dwelling

Mont de la Rocque Hotel, Le Mont de la Rocque, St Brelade
Demolish hotel. Construct 9 No. apartments with associated landscaping and parking. Model available

Businesses to Dwellings / Apartments

Big Deal Carpets, La Rue de L'Eglise, St Peter
Demolish existing building. Construct 12 No dwellings and 8 No. apartments to include basement parking. Create new vehicular access. AMENDED PLANS: Construct 12 No. dwellings and 3 No. apartments. Model Available

Former Cleveland Garage & Heather Lea, St Clements Road, St Helier
Demolish existing garage and dwelling. Construct 16 No. dwellings with basement parking.

Jersey Pottery, Gorey Village, Grouville
Demolish existing buildings. Construct 53 No. houses and garages. Model Available

Guardian Nursing Home, La Rigondaine, Grouville
Demolish nursing home. Construct 4 No. dwellings.