An outline planning application has been lodged with the Development & Planning Authority which seeks approval in principle for the residential development of an agricultural field of about 2,690 square metres between Pitronnerie Road and La Vrangue, bordered by the Pitronnerie Road Industrial Estate to the north and by existing housing on two sides.
The site also contains the remains of a small barn.
The bid seeks approval for in-principle development for up to 14 dwellings and for a new vehicle access onto Pitronnerie Road, with layout, scale, appearance and landscaping reserved for a later application.
An indicative scheme suggests a mix of four one-bedroom apartments, five two-bedroom apartments and five two-bedroom maisonettes.
Agent Lovell Ozanne said the proposal followed the authority’s approved Pitronnerie Road Development Framework and several pre-application discussions, and would ‘contribute towards the island’s identified housing need’.
The site lies within the St Peter Port Main Centre Outer Area under the Island Development Plan, where the authority has confirmed residential development is acceptable in principle.
The application relates to a smaller field to the east of the wider framework site. A larger field to the west has a different owner and does not form part of the application, though the agent proposes a planning covenant linking the two, so that a comprehensive development could take place across both plots.
The plans propose retaining boundary hedges and trees where possible and keeping open space for public use, with surface water managed through a sustainable drainage system.
The neighbouring site, a much larger field, has been earmarked for housing and was recently sold for £1.25m., having gone on the market early in 2025 for £5m.
A preliminary layout has indicated that it could take 72 units of housing but no planning permission has ever been granted.
Six architectural firms came together earlier this year to collaborate on a ‘housing masterplan’ for another site at La Vrangue which could include up to 500 new homes.
This was covering a 12-acre site that included the old tobacco factory, Balmoral Vinery, the Guernsey Institute’s Coutanchez site, and part of La Vrangue Manor.
It was hoped that the plan would be ready to be sent to planners later this year.
A nearby site on the Pitronnerie Road industrial estate, formerly occupied by SGB before it closed in March, has also been sold for £1.23m.
The larger Pitronnerie Road field was flagged as a possible housing site by planners in 2021, when a draft development framework was published.
That stated that the site was 1.6 hectares, although planners felt only about one hectare of the land would be suitable for development.
In that document, the planners noted that in the area there was a mixture of low- and high-density homes – of up to 85 homes per hectare – but felt that this site was best suited for between 50 and 60 homes.