Staff accommodation at La Collinette could become flats

Margaret House stands to the right of the entrance from St Jacques. The three-storey building was built in 1996. It is proposed the structure could be converted into seven two-bed flats.

James Le Gallez from Strategic Planning & Property submitted a letter to the planners.

He said the applicant has worked in the tourism industry for over 50 years and had been directly involved with La Collinette Hotel since 1960 as a family business. ‘They are vastly experienced and expert in their professional field of tourism and they would not be making this planning application unless in the interests of sustaining a modern tourism use for the main hotel and self-catering cottages,’ he said.

‘As set out in the accountant’s letter, this planning application is to facilitate a sustainable tourism use for the remainder of the property via the release of valuable capital from this proposal to finance the costs set out within the costs report. This is to support a rationalisation of the existing tourism uses and not intended as a direct loss to tourism.’

A costs report and letters from an estate agent and the applicant were provided to the planners as evidence, but were not made public.

Mr Le Gallez said these proved that the refurbishment costs were not financially viable for the hotel in its current form and financial position.

‘That is also set against that the twenty-two bedrooms and seven self-catering cottages would remain in visitor accommodation operations,’ he said in the application.

‘Strategically this is a common-sense solution to two modern day site use issues – tourism and local market housing.’

n The plans can be viewed at https://www.gov.gg/liveplanningapplications.