20 new homes for health staff on former Braye Lodge site
At least 20 new homes for key healthcare workers are set to be built on the site of the former Braye Lodge Hotel in Ruette Braye after the Guernsey Housing Association agreed to buy it from the Medical Specialist Group.
If all goes to plan, the GHA is hoping to complete the project by the end of 2026.
The £1.8m. cost of the purchase is being funded with the help of the States’ capital grant allocated to the Affordable Housing Development Programme.
GHA development manager Phil Roussel said that a deposit had been paid, and passing of contracts will happen once plans are drawn up and approved.
It had its eye on the site for several years, but the previous owner did not want to sell, he said.
Association chairman Chris Hill said it hoped that more than 20 homes could be built and the development would probably include some one-bedroom flats.
The final figure will depend on discussions with the Development & Planning Authority about maximising the site’s potential.
The site was bought by the MSG for £1.5m in 2019, predominantly for more staff parking.
Chairman Steve Evans said the idea of building a new headquarters there was looked at, but it was told that planners would be unlikely to approve rezoning the land from housing.
The group was acquiring land from another landowner for a new car parking area not far from the MSG offices.
Employment & Social Security president Peter Roffey said the purchase of the Braye Lodge site would be a great step forward in providing key worker accommodation, with the GHA also looking to build some on the former CI Tyres site in La Charroterie, just down the road.
‘And if we could convert Sir Charles Frossard House car park we’d have even more in the area,’ he said.
Health & Social Care is also looking to create key worker homes on a field at the Oberlands end of the PEH site and president Al Brouard said that this project was currently waiting for the DPA to give it the go-ahead.
HSC was pleased to have the support of ESS, P&R and the GHA in recognising the importance of the Braye Lodge site.
Mr Roussel said the next GHA site where work is likely to get under way was at the former Quantock Cottage at Sandy Hook, where plans have been approved for 14 flats for people with learning disabilities.
‘It’s ready to go. We’re just waiting for the funding agreement from Policy & Resources.’
Braye Lodge Hotel background
The structure was previously an active hotel, called the Miramar, which was known for its Chinese restaurant and cabaret. It later became the Flying Dutchman before rebranding to its final name. In its last days, it was a lodging house.
The site currently consists of the former Braye Lodge Hotel, a detached dwelling and a large hard surfaced parking area. It was classed as a housing allocation area in the latest Island Development Plan, which was adopted in 2016.
The site already has a development framework, which stated that between 10 and 20 homes could be created on the 0.4 hectare site. That was approved in 2017.
A planning application for 14 new homes was rejected in 2020, as it included four bed homes, which it was decided was not the sort of homes Guernsey needed.
MSG began leasing car parking on the site in 2007 for staff based at nearby Alexandra House and Mill House buildings. It then purchased the site in 2019.
