Vale field earmarked for light industry
ACCESS to a light industrial site in Braye Road is going to be one of the constraints on any construction work, according to the draft development framework.
The framework is for a patch of land that is north of the Guernsey Press site and east of the Braye Road Industrial estate.
This was formerly zoned as a horticultural site and it lies behind properties along the main road, including new homes currently under construction.
One point made by the framework is having homes so close: ‘In protecting residential amenity there will be constraints on the type, scale, layout and form of development permitted so that the amenity of neighbouring properties is not unreasonably affected by issues such as overlooking, overshadowing, noise nuisance, traffic nuisance or industrial smells,’ it said.
Assuming issues are taken into account, ‘there is an opportunity to create a high quality development with a sense of place through the inclusion of appropriate public art’.
It warns against there being too many signs or ‘inappropriate security measures such as chain link or steel palisade fencing’ which could degrade the area’s image and appearance. These could, however, be dealt with early in the design process.
Inappropriate lighting could lead to light pollution and there could be a nuisance element of sensor-activated light and the framework said that this nuisance might end up constraining the range of suitable lighting systems.
Among the ideas that are likely to be considered acceptable for the site are businesses involving technology-based activities and the digital sector, such as medical and financial technology operations. Other possibilities would be small start-up and scale-up workshops and studies for small businesses.
‘Another area of potential demand relates to the processing of medicinal cannabis,’ said the report.
There are three possibilities for access, but each of them is constrained, said the report. From the south the two options are for traffic to either go around the Guernsey Press building, or turn left on entering the GP site.
The only access from the north is down a 5m wide road between residential properties and it is this that is seen as the best option at present due to a lack of access rights from the main industrial estate.
‘If this access point is utilised, no vehicular through route to the rest of the industrial estate will be permitted in order to avoid the creation of a cut-through which may be used by drivers wishing to avoid the main Braye Road Industrial Estate junction,’ said the report.
Other issues which are mentioned include the possible need for a large-scale upgrade of the drinking water feed to the site, more work being needed on electricity substations, a surface water management plan being required and a construction environmental management plan needed if more than 1,000sq. m of industrial floorspace is created.
On top of this, a comprehensive landscaping scheme would need to form part of any plans submitted and the framework outlines some of the requirements, which will include restoring a douit that runs along the southern boundary of the site.
