Former CI Lighting site in need of ‘thorough pollution checks’
THOROUGH pollution checks will have to be carried out on the former CI Lighting site on Doyle Road before any new housing is built the planners have said.
Planning permission was granted this week to allow eight houses and one flat to be built on the land close to the junction with the Grange.
It has been more than six years since CI Lighting left the premises and moved to Rouge Val. The planning application was made by Grange Finance Guernsey Limited, which is registered at Rouge Val Warehouse, where CI Lighting is also based.
In the planning decision, it was stated that the site is known or suspected to be contaminated.
‘Please be aware that the responsibility for the safe development and secure occupancy of the site rests with the developer,’ the permission stated.
A number of planning conditions were imposed to ensure the contamination was dealt with.
These included no construction or demolition taking place until an investigation report detailing ground conditions, as well as chemical and gas analysis, has taken place.
The developer must then provide a detailed scheme of remedial work to avoid the risk of any gases or contamination escaping.
The site is surrounded by residential properties.
It currently has a mixture of granite buildings on the land, with the oldest possibly having origins dating back to the 15th century.
The eight houses – with a mixture of two and three bedrooms – and the one bed flat will be provided by converting two of the existing buildings and constructing a new three-storey building in the middle.
Contamination concerns were raised by the Office of Environmental Health & Pollution Regulation, which recommended that the stringent conditions be put in place.
The majority of the St Peter Port Douzaine backed the scheme.
La Societe Guernesiaise’s history section showed an interest in the application and said they were interested in making a record of the building close to Doyle Road, which is believed to date to earlier than 1787, before any work was carried out.
However, the planners have previously looked over the building and decided not to add it to the protected building register.
The planners backed the idea of having the site used for housing, stating that new homes would add vitality to the area.
It has more than a year for the planning permission to be granted.
CI Lighting was unavailable to comment on the decision yesterday.
