Guernsey Press

Belgrave Vinery site could house 313 homes

FLATS and home will be created on Belgrave Vinery, if planning permission is granted.

Published
Belgrave Vinery. (30064677)

A final development framework was published this week, leaving the way clear for a planning application. The framework detailed how up to 313 homes could be created on the 6.26 hectare site, which runs along Le Murier and behind properties on Vale Road.

Guernsey Housing Association chief executive Steve Williams welcomed the document and said it would allow progress to a planning application.

‘We are having to do a traffic impact assessment and a flood remediation strategy and work up a detailed design,’ Mr Williams said.

He would not be drawn on how many homes the application could be for, but he did confirm there would be flats and houses, with a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom homes. It would also be a mixture of rental, partial ownership and key worker housing. Mr Williams said while there was strong demand for one- and two-bed properties, there was also a need for larger partial ownership properties.

The application would cover the northern 40% of the site – which is outside the flood risk area. Despite this, Mr Williams said planning was requiring a flood strategy for the full site at this stage.

Most of the southern part of the site was identified as being at high risk of flooding, as it is at sea level. But the northern side close to Le Murier is between five and 10 metres above sea level.

Mr Williams said if the planning process went smoothly, he was hopeful work could start next summer, with a build time of between 18 months and two years.

He added there were was no timescale for when they could develop the southern part of the site, noting that there were significant flooding challenges there due to it being so low-lying.

St Sampson’s parish has issued a statement noting the framework approval

‘This framework proposes that the site could accommodate the same number of people as Torteval,’ they said.

‘However, this site is fifty times smaller than our southern-most parish.’

There are just over 1,000 people living in Guernsey’s most rural parish.