Tuesday 14 April 2015
The Initial Representation period for the Draft Island Development Plan has now closed.
The planning inquiry team has now received just under 1,500 Initial Representations. Over 600 of these were submitted on the final day of the initial consultation period (Monday 13 April).
The Chief Minister said:
"The receipt of almost 1,500 Initial Representations indicates that the public have engaged well with the first stage of the planning inquiry consultation. This figure is significantly higher than the 582 first representations that were received on the last major Plan review, the Rural Area Plan."
An early assessment of the submitted Initial Representations would indicate that around 45% of those commenting support the Draft Island Development Plan.
The Chief Minister went on to explain:
"The planning inquiry team will now be working diligently to process this high volume of submissions so that they can be viewed by the public before the commencement of the second round of consultation in May. Given the considerable level of public input, the opening of the next phase - the Further Representation period - will now move back a week from Monday 11th May to Monday 18th May. We are confident, however, that this is unlikely to affect the commencement date of the Inquiry Hearings, which will be the following stage of the planning inquiry process."
Following the closure of the Initial Representations stage, there will now be a short administrative period to enable the representations to be collated and to allow the Environment Department to consider the submissions and provide the planning inspectors with a response to them all. These responses will also be made public at the beginning of the Further Representations period on 18 May. This will provide the opportunity for individuals, groups, companies, societies, agents and other parties to make written comments on the submissions made during the Initial Representations stage. These Further Representations' can be made during a six week period from Monday 18 May 2015 to 18:00 on Friday 3 July 2015.
Copies of all the Initial Representations can be viewed online via the planning inquiry website (www.gov.gg/planninginquiry) and in printed form at Sir Charles Frossard House, La Charroterie, St. Peter Port, and the Guille-Allès Library, Market Street, St. Peter Port. Copies of individual representations may be requested and an administration charge may be levied for multiple copies.
The Inquiry Hearings are a series of public hearings where the Planning Inspectors will take evidence on certain issues raised in the Initial and Further Representations. Not all representations will be heard, as the Planning Inspectors hope to deal with the large majority of submissions in writing. However, they may want to arrange hearings around particular topics and more information will be provided on this in due course. The provisional date fixed for the start of the inquiry hearing is Monday 5 October 2015.
Once uploaded, details of all of the Initial Representations will be available to view through the online system which can be found at www.gov.gg/planninginquiry. Here you will also find detailed guidance on how to make a Further Representation. A paper set of all Initial Representations will also be made available to view at Sir Charles Frossard House.
-ENDS-
Further Information
On Monday 16 February 2015, the Environment Department published the draft Island Development Plan. Once adopted by the States, this draft Plan will replace the Urban and Rural Area Plans as the principal policy document for determining how and where development can take place in Guernsey.
Before the draft Island Development Plan can be adopted by the States, it must be subject to independent review. This will be undertaken by two experienced planning inspectors appointed by the Policy Council - Mr. Alan Boyland and Mr. Keith Holland. Mr. Boyland and Mr. Holland are both semi-retired, having worked for the UK Planning Inspectorate undertaking planning inquiries across England and Wales. Their appointment has been made under section 7 of the Land Planning and Development (Plans) Ordinance, 2007 and they will carry out the Planning Inquiry independently of the Environment Department, the Policy Council and all States departments and committees.
The Planning Inquiry will be split into three separate and distinct stages:
Initial Representations - an opportunity for individuals, groups, companies, societies, agents, etc. to make written comments on the policies in the draft Island Development Plan and the related Environmental Statement. Initial Representations may be made during the eight weeks from Monday 16 February 2015 to midnight on Monday 13 April 2015.
Further Representations - an opportunity for individuals, groups, companies, societies, agents, etc. to make written comments on the representations made during Initial Representations. Further Representations can be made during a six week period from Monday 18 May 2015 and 18:00 on Friday 3 July 2015.
Inquiry Hearings - a series of public hearings where the Planning Inspectors will take evidence on the issues raised in the Initial and Further Representations. The provisional date fixed for the start of the inquiry hearing is Monday 5 October 2015.
Further Representations can be made online using the Planning Inquiry's website - www.gov.gg/planninginquiry - or in writing on the approved form which is available from Sir Charles Frossard House, La Charroterie, St. Peter Port, the various Parochial Constables' Offices and Douzaine Rooms, the Guille-Allès Library, and the Greffe, during normal office hours. Completed forms should be returned to the Planning Inquiry at Sir Charles Frossard House by 18:00 on Friday 3 July 2015.
Contact Information
Further information, including guidance notes about the Planning Inquiry itself and how to make and view representations using the online consultation document can be found on the Planning Inquiry website (www.gov.gg/planninginquiry) or by emailing or speaking to a member of the Planning Inquiry Administration Team based at Sir Charles Frossard House (email - planninginquiry@gov.gg; telephone - 717284).
