Tuesday 01 July 2014
Guernsey Press Enquiry:
I am following up on a planning permission, submitted by the GHA to rebuild a wall outside Chertsey House, which has recently been refused.
The interesting point is that the wall has already been rebuilt, as the traffic section told the GHA the road outside could only be closed for a certain period at the start of June. The GHA have said the department was slow in processing the application - it was submitted at the start of May, with a note that it needed to be handled quickly - but it was not even registered as being received until the end of May.
I was keen to have a comment from the department about the handling of the case and what could be the next step - could the wall have to be removed?
If you could get back to me by 4pm today, that would be helpful,
Environment Department Response:
Consideration of a planning application can only commence once it is received as a valid application. Whilst an initial application was received on 22nd May 2014, the information required to make it valid was not received until 2nd June. The Department's decision was issued on 30th June, four weeks after receipt of the valid application and five and a half weeks after receipt of the initial application. The Department aims to decide 80% of planning applications within 8 weeks from valid receipt and 90% within 13 weeks from valid receipt.
Given the legal requirements concerning the content of applications and the three week statutory period for publicity of the application by site notice, which in this case resulted in a third party representation being received, the Department could not practically have processed this application any more quickly. Substantial advice to developers has been published by the Environment Department and is available on the States website concerning both the content of planning applications and the requirements for their publicity.
The requirements of other parties concerning road closures or other States functions are not a material planning consideration which could have been taken into account when dealing with this planning application.
The Department's decision was taken purely on planning grounds as required by the Island's Planning Law. The replacement of the granite wall with a rendered wall has a seriously detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the area, contrary to planning policy, and the planning application was refused on this basis. The Department will be discussing the present unfortunate situation with the developer and would expect that appropriate steps are now taken to resolve the current breach of planning control.
Contact Information:
Jim Rowles, Director of Planning
Environment Department
Tel: 717200
