DRAFT ISLAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN GUERNSEY - Carey Olsen

DRAFT ISLAND
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
GUERNSEY

MARCH 2015
PROPERTY

W W W.CAREYOLSEN.COM
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
CAYMAN ISL ANDS
GUERNSEY
JERSEY
CAPE TOWN
LONDON

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INTRODUCTION
The draft Island Development Plan (the “IDP”) was published by the Environment
Department on 16 February 2015 and is now going through the planning inquiry
process. This process is an independent review conducted by planning inspectors and
is made up of initial representations, further representations and a planning inquiry
hearing. We are currently in the initial representations stage, which is the opportunity
for the public to have their say. The current planning inquiry timetable is as follows:

• Initial representations – from 16 February 2015 until 10 April 2015;
• Further representations (opportunity to respond to initial representations –

no new representations can be made at this stage) from 11 May 2015 until 26
June 2015;
• Planning inquiry hearing (in public) – commences 6 October 2015;
• States consider and adopt the IDP - Autumn 2016.

Following this process, the draft IDP will be considered and approved by the States of
Deliberation and when the IDP is adopted, it will replace the current Rural Area Plan
(the “RAP”) and Urban Area Plan (the “UAP”). Therefore, the IDP will be the principal
policy document which the Environment Department will refer to when considering all
planning applications.

There are many opportunities within the draft IDP for development, currently precluded
by the RAP and the UAP, to be carried out, introducing a certain amount of flexibility.
The draft IDP consists of the written statement (containing the policies) and proposals
maps. If you have any interest in the future land development policies of the island, you
should carefully consider these documents and make representations at this stage.

Careful scrutiny of the draft IDP is essential to fully understand how it may affect
your property and to enable considered and effective representations to be submitted.
Representations can be made in support of and disagreeing with policies and can be
made on any policy and/in respect of the boundaries or allocations identified on the
proposals maps. Representations will only be considered by the planning inspectors if
they are made online or on the official printed form.

It is no surprise that the draft IDP provides that development will be concentrated
within the “Main Centres” (Town and the Bridge) and around them (the “Main Centre
Outer Areas”). It also provides that some limited development could take place within
and around the edges of the six identified “Local Centres” (St Martin, Cobo, St Pierre
du Bois, L’Islet, Forest and L’Aumone). The rest of the island is referred to as “Outside
of the Centres”. It is important to identify on the island proposals map which zone land
falls within in order to identify which specific policies would be relevant to development
proposals for that land.

There are numerous new provisions within the draft IDP and we highlight a selection
of these below.

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HOUSING
The Strategic Land Use Plan requires the IDP initially to satisfy the island’s housing
requirement for the first 5 years of the 10 year plan period. The States’ current housing
target is 300 units per year giving a requirement of 1500 dwellings over the first 5 years
of the IDP. To meet this requirement, the draft IDP allocates 15 sites for housing in
the Main Centres and Main Centre Outer Areas to provide the majority together with
sites that currently have planning permission and the rest will be made up of “windfall
sites”. The Environment Department has published a document called “Approach to
Housing Site Allocations in the draft IDP”, which aims to explain how the draft IDP
meets the 5 year requirement. This document, together with the Strategic Housing
Land Availability Assessment, needs careful consideration to understand how the draft
IDP will achieve the required 5 year supply.

Affordable housing provisions have been introduced ensuring that proposals for
developments of five or more dwellings provide at least 20% of the developable area for
affordable housing.

AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
The draft IDP offers much more support and flexibility for the Agricultural Industry. It
identifies large Agricultural Priority Areas and within these areas there will be support
for development that is related to agricultural use of an existing farmstead or existing
agricultural holding. Support is also introduced for proposals for development that
would be ancillary or be ordinarily incidental to the primary agricultural use but may
not, of itself, be an agricultural use. This allows agricultural businesses the flexibility
to consider limited diversification. Examples given in the draft IDP provide that this
would facilitate the development of a small farm shop selling goods and produce
predominantly grown or made on site and also, development associated with providing
visitor accommodation ancillary to the agricultural use of the site.

GLASSHOUSES
In some circumstances, the draft IDP supports proposals to develop redundant
glasshouse sites. This provides a welcome degree of flexibility in planning policy
given the legacy of redundant glasshouses across the island in various states of repair.
Within the Main Centres, Main Centre Outer Areas and Local Centres, proposals
will be considered against those sections of the draft IDP. Outside of the Centres,
proposals will be supported in certain circumstances for small-scale industrial, storage
and distribution, to incorporate the site into the curtilage of a building and to provide
infrastructure for the harnessing of renewable energy or outdoor formal recreation or
informal recreation and leisure.

CONSERVATION AREAS
Many of the conservation areas identified by the draft IDP have changed from those
identified by the RAP and UAP. There are 93 in the RAP and UAP which have been
reduced to 25 in the draft IDP. However, some areas have been joined together, some
have been removed and some new areas have been added. It is important to ascertain
whether land now falls within a conservation area.

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DESIGNATED AREAS
Many of the designated areas shown on the RAP and UAP proposals maps (for example,
areas of high landscape quality and sites of nature conservation importance, where
specific policies for those areas will apply) are not the same in the draft IDP. Some of
the areas are designated in the draft IDP as something else or, in some cases, they are
not subject to any specific designation (“white zone”) so that proposals for development
will just be considered against the relevant general policies.

A copy of the draft IDP and supporting information can be found at www.gov.gg/
planreview and a copy of the proposals map can be found at http://draftislandplan.
digimap.gg. Further information on the planning inquiry process can be found at www.
gov.gg/planninginquiry.

Should you require any advice or assistance with regard to the draft IDP and/or making
representations, please do not hesitate to contact Rachel Jones, a specialist planning
lawyer within our property team.

GUERNSEY

T +44 (0)1481 727272
Carey House PO Box 98 Les Banques
St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 4BZ Channel Islands

DAVEY LE MARQUAND JASON MORGAN
Partner Partner
T +44 (0)1481 732009 T +44 (0)1481 741563
E [email protected] E [email protected]

JONATHAN ANDERSON RACHEL JONES
Senior Associate Senior Associate
T +44 (0)1481 732021 T +44 (0)1481 732089
E [email protected] E [email protected]

JOHN LE TISSIER SARAH WALLIS
Senior Associate Senior Associate
T +44 (0)1481 732014 T +44 (0)1481 741501
E [email protected] E [email protected]

Please note that this briefing is only intended to provide a very general overview of the matters to which it
relates. It is not intended as legal advice and should not be relied on as such.
© Carey Olsen 2015

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