Planners agree to 12 flats in Coupee Lane
PLANNING permission has been granted for 12 flats on a long-empty St Peter Port site.
The site on Coupee Lane stands between properties on Cornet Street and South Esplanade.
It has stood empty for decades and been the subject of numerous planning applications for housing, with about a dozen having been made since 2001.
About half of them were approved, but no homes have ever been built.
The latest application from Coupee Lane Ltd is for 12 flats, with a mixture of one- and two-bedrooms, over five floors.
Two letters of opposition were sent to the planners by neighbours, who were concerned the new building would tower over existing structures and give direct views into an existing cottage.
It was suggested by one letter writer that the site would be better used as tiered garden for neighbouring properties, or for the National Trust of Guernsey, which owns property in Cornet Street which backs onto the site.
The Trust told the planners it supported the principle of development on the site and had no objections to the scale or mass of the development, but was worried about the design.
‘The council is disappointed with the standard of design, which includes features and proportions that do not appear to compliment or enhance the site or its surroundings,’ it said.
The Trust also flagged that the site plan seemed to show that developer had incorrectly adopted a small strip of Trust land immediately to the rear of 26, Cornet Street for part of the development’s car parking area.
It supplied Cadastre maps to the planners to show the correct boundaries.
In terms of the proposal, the planners said the four one-bedroom apartments and eight two-bedroom apartments would meet current housing requirements.
The planners noted that an approved application from 2016 for 16 flats was still live, as work had commenced on site to implement part of that permission.
Overall the planners were happy with the application and permission was granted.
