‘Families the winners from offices into homes idea’
STREAMLINING planning processes so redundant offices can be turned into homes more quickly would benefit local families, Development & Planning Authority president Victoria Oliver has said.
A local company has been asked to carry out an audit of office space in the island, identifying how much is redundant and how much is in use.
Phil Dawes, managing director of D2 Real Estate, suggested recently that Guernsey should follow Jersey on the use of redundant office space.
Within the Island Development Plan it is possible to request the change of use of an office space if it can be proved that it cannot be filled for that purpose.
Deputy Oliver said just about all demands could be met at the moment, but it was the speed at which this work is carried out that is the problem.
Estimating it might take between nine months and a year for a business to identify redundant office space, prove it cannot be filled and have the change of use approved, she understood why some developers might get impatient and look to work on an easier project with a greater return.
‘It should be quicker,’ she said.
‘One of the things we have done already to speed up the process is introduce the fast-track system.’
This means that if an application is submitted that does not draw complaints, is not involving a historic building or in a conservation area and meets the relevant policies, it can go straight through to approval in about four weeks.
‘Streamlining or combining some of the planning processes is another way to get things like office space conversions over the line quicker and that in turn will benefit local families,’ she said.
‘While it is mostly the processes that make the planning system appear slow, sometimes it is also just down to the amount of work that staff have to do.’
The normal targets are eight weeks for domestic and other minor applications and 13 weeks for major applications, but there have been delays over the last year.
