Wednesday 27 July 2022
Planning permission has been granted today for the Post-16 Campus to be built on Les Ozouets, following an Open Planning Meeting.
The Development & Planning Authority voted unanimously to approve the plans, which will allow work on the new campus to get started.
The Post-16 Campus will house all parts of The Guernsey Institute and The Sixth Form Centre, as well as a state-of-the-art sports facility, the Princess Royal Centre for the Performing Arts, and more.
During the planning process, a small number of submissions were received from stakeholders and members of the public with queries around the transport and travel elements of these plans. As a result of these submissions, the team working on the Campus have been reviewing some of the infrastructure in the vicinity of the site.
Two changes have also already been made to the plans. Firstly the planned number of parking spaces on the site is to be reduced by 40 (386 -> 346) to enable an increase in cycle parking by 68 spaces to accommodate up to 200 cycles, and to facilitate more pedestrianisation. Secondly, officers are recommending a filter at the Les Baissieres/Le Friquet junction rather than just following the initial suggestion in the independent traffic impact assessment of traffic lights.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee forEducation, Sport & Culture, said:
"We are of course delighted that planning permission has been granted for the development of the Post-16 Campus on Les Ozouets. As a key element of the overall reorganisation of Secondary and Post-16 Education, the campus brings with it the opportunity to revolutionise education in Guernsey. It will see all post-16 learners progressing together to a single campus, fully equipped with modern 21st century facilities, to pursue their chosen professional, technical, vocational, A level or International Baccalaureate qualifications.
"I know I speak on behalf of the Committee when I say we are excited for the next steps in bringing the campus to life, and we continue to work very hard to ensure it is the best it can be for the next generations of islanders."
Nick Hynes, Director of Education, said:
"Over the last few months, the planning process has been very helpful in letting us look again at the traffic plans we originally submitted for the Post-16 Campus. We are now going to look again at what opportunities there might be to improve the infrastructure around the site. With the planning process concluded, we can now move toward starting construction, which we hope will begin with the demolition of the current College of Further Education building - the old St Peter Port School - on Les Ozouets towards the end of this year. All then going well, the new Post-16 Campus should be opening its doors in 2025."
While the planning process has been ongoing, the team working on the transformation plans for education have been progressing the decant from Les Ozouets, to clear the site of its current residents.
Planning permission for this work was granted earlier in the year, and it has since seen preparations begin to house all of the College of FE at Le Coutanchez and Delancey. Arrangements have also been made for teams such as the Music Service, Youth Commission, SHARE and more to be relocated to different Education sites.
The Princess Royal Centre for Performing Arts will remain open and in use by performing arts students and the public throughout the construction of the new facilities.
