No permission but Manor officially lodging house
A FORMER hotel, which is a third owned by Policy & Resources president Peter Ferbrache, has officially changed classification to a lodging house, without securing planning permission.
But the owners of The Manor will not face action from planners for the years of incorrect usage of the Petit Bot establishment, as it now falls outside the time-frame for enforcement action.
The change was revealed in a retrospective planning permission for part of the ground floor to be used as a restaurant/cafe and takeaway, which was granted this week.
It was noted in a 2014 planning appeal hearing that the last boarding permits for visitor accommodation had expired in 2004. That appeal gave permission for the building to be converted into a residential care home.
But that did not happen and instead the property has continued as a lodging house for more than 20 years.
A 2019 restaurant application noted that the building was still classed as visitor economy use class 7. But planners acknowledged that its unauthorised use as a lodging house had persisted for sufficient time to make it immune from enforcement action, such as compliance notices or court action.
A certificate of lawful usage, to regularise use of the premises as a house in multiple occupation, was granted in October.
A CLU is a certificate as to the lawfulness of any existing use of land.
‘The evidence/documentation submitted is sufficient to demonstrate on the balance of probabilities that the premises ... has been used for the uses described in appendix 1 to this certificate for a continuous period of more than four years since the authority first knew the alleged use was occurring,’ the certificate states.
The Guernsey Press asked when the planners had first become aware of the change of use and why the decision had been taken not to prosecute, as well as why the change had happened now and why action was not taken earlier.
A Planning Service spokesman responded: ‘A certificate of lawful use application for the Manor Hotel was made in April 2022 and was granted in October 2022, which regularised the use of the entire site as a house in multiple occupation.’
The property has been owned by Guernsey Building Developments Limited since 1987. Deputy Ferbrache, who did not comment, owns a third share of the company.
The hotel was managed by a local operator from 1989 until about 2000.
The 2014 planning appeal hearing heard how new visitor accommodation standard rules introduced in 2001would have necessitated substantial investment in the building, which the owner argued was not financially viable.
The use then changed gradually over the next four years, with the last visitor boarding permit expiring in 2004.
Deputy Ferbrache accepted at the 2014 hearing that a change of use planning permission was required. But none was made.
He has been approached for comment.
What is a certificate of lawful usage?
NORMALLY, compliance notices are issued as a first step in enforcement in the cases of planning breaches.
But they cannot be issued more than 10 years after a breach has taken place. If the planners were aware of the breach, a notice cannot be issued more than four years after that.
A land owner can then apply for a CLU to regularise the use. An application costs £250 and evidence must be produced.
To demonstrate immunity from enforcement and consequent lawfulness of a use, a CLU application needs to prove that the use started before April 2009 and at what stage the authority became aware of the breach, as this affects the timescales for enforcement.
So far, 55 applications have been made since CLUs came into force in 2019. There have been 13 refusals, but the rest were passed. Refusals are usually because applicants were unable to prove continuous usage for the necessary periods.
