Sections Environment Environment Review - Autumn 2006
Environment Review - Autumn 2006
After many months when the development on the Waterfront seemed to take as much time as could be devoted to it, it has come as something of a relief to look as far away as possible - to the Northwest of the Island, where a planning application has at last been formally submitted. The developers are offering to demolish the old Holiday Camp buildings if they are allowed to build 36 houses in several clusters away from the northern edge of the site. Arguments are continuing about interpretation of the Island Plan’s policies on the Green Zone (the site is only on the edge of the Zone of Outstanding Character which covers much of the coastal fringe).
A similar question arose over the application to build a Café/Restaurant at Longbeach in Gorey. The site here was partly in the Countryside Zone, partly in an 'Important Open Space’ and next to the edge of the Coastal Zone. The Section simply drew attention to these policies and awaited a decision: in the event, following considerable public objection, the application was withdrawn.
The decision would have been of particular interest in that it would have been a further test of the commitment of the Minister for Environment – Senator Freddie Cohen. Individual Ministers now have greatly increased power and, fortunately for environmentalists, Senator Cohen continues to demonstrate his commitment to the protection of the Island’s heritage and environment. It was, interestingly, his personal enthusiasm for a radical solution to the problem of development at the Waterfront that raised the possibility of extending the underpass so as to solve the difficulty of the separation of the waterfront from St Helier. A re-convened public meeting on the Integration of the Waterfront and St Helier is imminent.
This year La Rue des Cateaux in St Lawrence was the winner of the Scenic Lanes Award. It is expected that the presentation of the plaque will take place in October, by which time it is hoped that a leaflet recommending ‘best practice’ in the branchage will be ready for distribution, about which the Commité des Conétables is being consulted.
R Anthony - Chairman
