Spades in ground this year is target for hundreds of homes
A TARGET date of before the end of this year has been set to get spades in the ground at two significant affordable developments at the Fontaine Vinery and Kenilworth Vinery.
The Fontaine Vinery project is slightly more advanced and a planning application is due to be submitted this month or next.
A development framework has stated that the whole site could take a maximum of 313 homes, but with the caveat that sea flood defences along Les Banques must be improved or a flood remediation strategy in place for the part of it deemed to be at flood risk.
The development is therefore being planned in phases, and the first one could see approximately 120 properties built in the area that borders the Vale Road and the St Sampson’s douzaine room.
At Kenilworth Vinery, the aim is to get a planning application in for around 130 homes by the end of March.
The vinery was bought by the States in October at a cost of about £6.5m, following long negotiations to agree a price.
Steve Williams, the chief executive of the Guernsey Housing Association, said both developments would reflect what the waiting lists were telling them.
‘Ourselves and States Housing have a joint waiting list for rented accommodation and the main need for the rented side is one and two bed homes.
‘On partial ownership, the demand is for one, two and three-bed homes, so that’s the mix we’re looking to address and we’re designing both Fontaine and Kenilworth along those lines.
‘We need the occasional four-bed as well where we might have a downstairs bathroom and bedroom for a disabled member of a family, because there are a small number of people with those needs on the waiting list and a very little accommodation in the island that is suitable for them.’
