States is colourblind over fields
A REQUETE pushing for deputies to have the final say about building on green fields at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital somehow manages to feel instinctively both right and wrong at the same time.
A majority of the Policy & Resources and Health & Social Care Committees want to build new staff accommodation on a green field in the grounds of the hospital. A good number of deputies, including the vice-presidents of both committees, oppose that. Many islanders would agree with them. And so ‘stop the staff block’ campaign feels about right.
Those behind the requete are unhappy that the work could go ahead without deputies having a say. But will this be a one-off, or the start of a trend? Surely we don’t want deputies to scrutinise every planning decision as we long to pursue smaller government?
The urgent need to move forward with more housing development, particularly for key workers, is not argued. But while we wait for the detail of the enticingly-labelled ‘market intervention project’ and a States ‘affordable housing development programme’, we don’t know the extent of government ambition.
The island’s wider challenge, with far bigger potential, is to do more to enable ‘brownfield’ development and regeneration island-wide. And really that should become the political priority, rather than battling over one green field.