Island Development Plan needs fixing
YET more green space to be lost to development [4 February, 26 homes on fields in St Martin’s]. Recently, Deputy Victoria Oliver has been quoted as saying, ‘how much she regrets the loss of small green spaces and agricultural land’, yet she does nothing about it.
Time this dysfunctional Island Development Plan was withdrawn or suspended while a variety of flawed policies that are contained within it are carefully examined and put to rights.
None of us, other than the developers perhaps, wish to see any more green spaces/agricultural land taken for other uses such as gardens, horses, and housing.
Recently, to my knowledge, and on three other occasions, planners have decided that an open planning meeting on certain applications is unnecessary. What has happened to democracy? Holding an open planning meeting is the only democratic way that objectors to a development can put forward their concerns to a panel of elected members, our deputies. Certainly, unelected civil servants should not be making the decision as to whether an open planning meeting is necessary.
While the system of delegation to planners of certain decisions was put in place years ago, it appears that the ‘bar’ has been lifted in recent years to enable decisions to be made by an individual planning office without reference to their political masters.
Recently, the States decided that it was one step too far to allow an unelected civil servant the power to make decisions on health matters for our community. I see the power given to planning officers in much the same light. This has to be stopped.
So come on Gavin St Pier, Lester Queripel, Peter Roffey and Peter Ferbrache, let us see you all step up to the plate and sort things out. You can do this as you are four strong politicians with common sense. Save our island from further destruction by demanding an urgent review of the IDP and its flawed policies.
As for the decision on the L’Auberge bar and restaurant, you know the one, the one that has ‘views that are no longer considered exceptional’, well what can I say? Simply an unbelievable decision. And again the recommended planning officer’s decision should have been changed at an open planning meeting. What next, I wonder? How many more ‘gems’ will Guernsey lose before this Island Development Plan is finally removed.
JANINE LE SAUVAGE
Meadow View
Les Hubits de Bas
St Martin’s
GY4 6NB