Former hotel set to stay as parking for medical group

The application was submitted before the property was purchased by the Medical Specialist Group for £1.5m last year to secure use of its car park, which it had leased since 2007.

‘The Medical Specialist Group purchased the site to ensure parking for our patients and staff. We have no further plans for the site at present,’ said a spokesman.

At the time of the purchase, the previous owner already had a planning application being considered. That plan for 14 new dwellings was rejected last week after a year of consideration.

It was proposed that the former hotel be demolished.

Then five buildings would be built fronting onto Ruettes Brayes, with a further nine arranged in an L-shape within the site.

All structures were to have traditional pitched roofs, while access roads and gardens were also proposed.

The Development & Planning Authority said the proposed four-bedroom houses were not suitable due to the island’s need for homes containing two or three bedrooms.

Questions were also raised about unexplained costs, although details were absent.

An alternative scheme was also deemed unsuitable because it included too many one-bed units.

The report expressed concerns that the four-storey buildings, which would be taller than the hotel, would tower over St Peter’s valley and break the skyline in views from the south-east, ruining its rural feel.

Planning said it would consider a resubmitted proposal, with units containing two or three bedrooms.

A development framework for the site was produced in 2017, which detailed what the planners felt was suitable for the site.

It stated that the site would could take between 10 and 20 homes.

The land is one of Guernsey’s housing allocation areas.