Leale’s Yard plans hit with another setback

Modular construction has been virtually ruled out as the preferred method for building nearly 300 flats and townhouses on the 13-acre brownfield site behind the Bridge seafront.

The scheme had already been put back until late 2026 and will now be delayed further, if it goes ahead at all, with developers and the States still to agree on alternative proposals to unlock up to £35m. of taxpayers’ investment required for the project to go ahead.

Policy & Resources president Lyndon Trott revealed the latest setback in the States Assembly yesterday.

‘It is likely that the proposed use of volumetric modular units ­– a form of off-site construction in which buildings are put together by connecting a series of fairly large pre-built sections or modules – cannot now happen,’ said Deputy Trott.

‘The issue was the effective withdrawal from the market of the proposed manufacturer. This has had an impact on the scheme’s delivery timescales as alternative construction methods now need to be assessed.

‘Despite efforts, including from myself, in proactively engaging with the parties in order to reach a satisfactory outcome for all, we have not achieved that yet.’

Successive Policy & Resources Committees have seen Leale’s Yard as their flagship scheme to provide accommodation which is desperately needed to recruit key workers in the public sector, alongside private housing and commercial buildings in what would be the island’s largest-ever single development.

In 2023, the previous P&R said that States tenants could be moving in by late 2024. Five months ago, Deputy Trott said he hoped his committee could submit final proposals to the States by the end of last year.

Deputy Trott said in his statement that it had ‘now become more difficult’ to develop the scheme, in partnership with Omnibus Investment Holdings and the Channel Islands Co-operative Society, which owns the land.

‘While we have not given up our ambition to see Leale’s Yard developed, we also need to turn our attention to other development sites that may now be able to deliver housing more quickly and offer better value for money,’ he said.

But he later struck a more optimistic tone while replying to States members’ questions following his statement.

‘There have been some robust discussions with the developer,’ said Deputy Trott.

‘Within the past few hours, rather than the past few days, we have received a positive update that gives us cause for hope that we may be able to arrive at or close to a negotiated price which will enable this project to proceed.

‘It is hot off the press, but it’s far more encouraging than I would have been able to respond a few days earlier.’

The proposal to use modular construction at Leale’s Yard had previously been criticised by several States members.

Deputy David De Lisle claimed yesterday that the scheme was ‘always a pie in the sky development’ and encouraged P&R to focus on other potential housing sites.

Deputy Trott said he remained ‘confident that a solution can be found’ but added that his committee was now assessing whether housing could be built at Leale’s Yard at an affordable price using other methods of construction.

‘Clearly, our housing shortage has reached proportions where many sites need to be developed, including Leale’s Yard,’ he said.