The Development & Planning Authority’s political board will have the final say at an open planning meeting next week. The outline planning application has been under consideration since April and has been scaled back from the original 45 dwellings and 56 flats to 34 dwellings and 51 flats.
Under the scheme, 69 of these units would be affordable housing, while the rest would be private market units. The original larger scheme saw 14 objections, with comments about how more suitable sites like Pointues Rocques should be developed first, and concerns about the scale and height of the blocks.
Forest Douzaine had no objection to development in the area, but was concerned at the proposed number of units. There were always worries about the loss of an agricultural field to the south of the site.
The revised application, with fewer homes, saw just five letters of representation.
Employment & Social Security supported more housing in the south of the island, especially where it helped people to downsize. The Housing Committee strongly supported the principle of using the proposed site, including the field, to provide affordable housing.
‘This site offers greater certainty of development owing to the advanced stage in negotiations between the landowner, Infinity Group and the Guernsey Housing Association, which indicate the shared willingness of those key stakeholders to proceed on an immediate basis with spades in the ground in 2026,’ it said. ‘The speed of delivery is a key factor in members’ decision to support the application.’
There were also letters of support from Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez and former deputy Peter Roffey.
Part of the site falls within the Forest West local centre – one of the areas where new housing is directed. But planners raised concerns about the field, which was outside that boundary and would not normally be allowed for housing.
‘However, for this application, a case has been put forward that the proposed housing development of the entirety of the application site constitutes a development of strategic importance,’ the planning report said.
The planners noted that this scheme would create a large number of affordable homes quickly and that the site was on the boundary of a local centre, and overall decided that it was a development of strategic importance.
‘The Mallard site and adjoining land represents a significant opportunity to achieve a rapid response to address the lack of housing and specifically affordable housing in a meaningful way, of an appropriate scale and in a location which is well served by appropriate amenities, facilities and connections and which it is concluded would not be achievable on any other comparable available site at the present time,’ they said.
‘It also provides an opportunity to provide affordable housing in an area of the island that is not generally a focus for such development which is desirable for those communities as confirmed by the GHA.’
They have recommended that the scheme go ahead, but the political members of the authority will have the final say at the open planning meeting at 9.30am on Monday 15 December at Beau Sejour. The public can attend to watch.
The meeting agenda and planning application report can be viewed at gov.gg/opm.
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