How did project get planning approval so fast?

Personally, I think this major project that has been proposed, if it goes through (and I hope it doesn't) will spoil our seafront/entrance to Town in every sense of the word.

The quaintness of Guernsey's seafront and king pin of the island is gradually being eroded away by those who do not care about appearance. I, like many others, do not want a large sprawling supermarket there.

There cannot be one single member of C&E who is a true Guernseyman. They are probably all newcomers to the island who have got no values at all, but all they see is '£, S, P' in front of their eyes and Guernsey has to suffer because of them.

Having looked up, or tried to find out who is involved in Spread Trustee Co. Ltd (the applicants), no names can be found.

Going back to the application part. In my case, I recently applied to remove a section of bushes, full of honey fungus, and replace with five fences. I had to apply three times – three sets of plans, three site visits and two people with cameras. All in all it took 12 months before it was passed – and I live in a lane.

Tom Ogier would turn in his grave if he knew what was going on now.

BRIAN LOWE,

Autumn Leaves,

Ruette des Corneilles,

Cobo,

Castel, GY5 7PP.

Editor's footnote: A spokesman for the Environment Department responds: 'Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your correspondent's letter.

It is a fundamental requirement in planning law that every planning application is decided on its own merits. Naturally, some applications will take longer to deal with than others, for example because they are more complex or raise particular issues. The Environment Department has published targets for speed of dealing with planning applications and monitors its performance against those targets. The results are published on the States website on a quarterly basis.

The identity of an applicant is not normally relevant to the determination of a planning application. The material planning considerations that have to be taken into account by the department when dealing with a planning application are set out in the Guernsey planning legislation and are further explained in the relevant guidance material that is published on the States website.

The department is unable to identify your correspondent's applications from the information provided, but would invite them to contact the department directly to discuss their concerns. Regarding the reference in your correspondent's letter to the Weighbridge House application, the planning process is governed by specific Guernsey legislation, approved by the States which, amongst other things, determines what requires planning permission and what does not.

In the case of the Weighbridge House proposal, the only aspects which required planning permission were:

• the change of use of the nightclub to retail use, and

• relatively minor alterations to the exterior of the existing building.

The change of use of the White Hart pub to other retail use and the internal amalgamation of smaller retail units to make a single larger retail unit do not require any planning permission at all and therefore this was not something that could be controlled under planning law.

Similarly, the department cannot in this situation control what is sold within a retail shop, whether this is food, household goods or clothing, to name but a few of the possibilities. These are matters that are dictated by the owner and/or leaseholder.

The aspects of the proposal which actually required planning permission were very limited. There was and is no proposal for redevelopment of the site or to alter the appearance of the existing buildings in any significant way beyond the minor changes proposed to two existing entrances.

Therefore, although the loss of the White Hart pub and the creation of a large retail unit in this location have attracted public comment and concern within the pages of the Press and elsewhere, these were not issues that could be considered as part of the planning process because they do not require planning permission. Therefore it is incorrect to claim that Environment have 'approved a large supermarket' because what the owner or leaseholder sells within the retail category and whether they knock several shops into one in this situation are not matters that can be controlled by planning.'