"I Feel Sick In The Stomach Having To Do These Things"

Friday, 18 March 2022 13:05

The Environment Minister says he feels 'sick in the stomach' to vote for building on green fields, but he has to 'put the overall housing need first.'

The States Assembly has voted to build homes on ten fields so far.

They are:

J1109 La Grande Route de St. Jean, St. John
J229, La Route du Nord, St. John
J236, La Rue du Cimetière, St. John
MY563 La Rue de la Rosière & La Rue de la Vallée, St. Mary
O785 La Rue des Cosnets, St. Ouen
P558 La Verte Rue, St. Peter
P559 La Route du Manoir, St. Peter
T1404, Trinity (adjacent to the new Co-op)
P655 and P656, La Route de Beaumont, St. Peter

The fields on La Route du Nord and La Rue du Cimetière in St John were added to the list following a successful amendment from Constable Andy Jehan.

The other five on the list were approved by States members by 30 votes to 10.

States members have been grappling with the balance of needing new homes along with wanting to protect the island's green spaces.

There was heavy criticism of the process that led to building on fields.

Deputy Kirsten Morel accused the Environment Minister of making 'fundamental errors' through the Island Plan process.

"I know that Andium Homes is still waiting for the government to make decisions about whether they will hand States-owned land to Andium or not and this isn't Andium saying we want to start building on it today, we need to know today, tell us whether in 2023, 2025 you will be handing over that plot of land to us because if you tell us now, we can start planning what we will do with that land.

But the government has not done that, so Andium is still waiting. So I know very well, that regardless of the 18 months of hard work, there is States-owned land that is unallocated and I know when I talk to parishioners that they say to me, why are they going for the green fields first when we know that there is States-owned land that has absolutely not been allocated.

It's things like that that make me question the process and not trust the process."

The Constable of St Brelade says he struggles to 'support the desecration of these good agricultural fields and to forever take them out of the industry', with the Constable of Grouville outlining similiar concerns.

The Constable of St Helier says it's not that the States Assembly doesn't care about people needing homes or high house prices, but they don't want to see the character of the island lost 'because the government hasn't taken enough trouble to get those brownfield sites into use.'

Assistant Environment Minister Deputy Gregory Guida says a broad range of housing needs have to be catered for, particularly families who need larger homes.

"Those are the ones that are most in-demand in Jersey. Those are the ones that demand £1million to be built, which is mind-boggling because not many families with two people, two kids growing up needing to be educated, needing cars to be purchased, needing holidays to be purchased, those are people who really have difficulties finding a home.

This is the market we must break the most. Single bedroom apartments - we can make up to a 15-storey building and have hundreds of them very cheap. Four-bedroom homes with a garden, they're massively missing in Jersey.

If there's any excuse for building on a green field, which I agree is sacred in Jersey, it's this one. It's the fact that the homes that are the most in-demand are four-bedroom (homes) with a small garden."

Deputy Rob Ward says other issues have not been dealt with first before moving onto green spaces.

He also called on States members who are suggesting a field for affordable homes 'to state what form of affordable homes that is going to be.'

"Are you talking about going through the Housing Gateway, are you talking about going through one of the parish schemes, are you talking about going through one of the plethora of schemes mentioned vaguely and briefly by the Housing Minister?

Are you talking about the Assisted Purchase Scheme, which I've got to say is an absolute mountain to climb if you want to get one of those homes as an assisted purchase, because there are so many loopholes to step through, and then you're going to own only a relatively small proportion of that and you're going to be mortgaged up to the hill probably paying for the deposit over the long-term as well and we are putting our young people and our young families into a position where financially, they are genuinely at risk of any changes that happen economically.

Is that really affordable?"

Environment Minister Deputy John Young called the debate 'as difficult and unpleasant as I expected.'

He says he had no choice and he didn't want it to come to this.

"For the record, I wanted population sorted, we didn't get that. For the record, I wanted the government to buy brownfield sites in town and develop them for low/medium rise, for family homes in the urban areas. I wanted that, I failed.

Why? Because it's in our DNA where we've become now to rely completely upon market mechanisms to deliver us homes and given the small island and the pressures, there has to be intervention.

The message in the future is please, the next government, re-think strategy.

Where are we going to make the balance up? We make half the balance up, we say, from green fields that we don't want to lose. I hate it.

I feel sick in the stomach having to do these things. When I'm not in the (States) Assembly anymore, people will say look at that field, we lost that field, that John Young, he was the Environment Minister.

Some people will say why don't you just leave it to somebody else? Well, that would have been not the responsible thing to do. Bring it here and make the choices."

The States Assembly voted yesterday (17 March) to set a target of building 600 affordable homes on rezoned fields.

21 other fields that were earmarked for affordable homes have been removed from the rezoning list after successful challenges to the Bridging Island Plan.

They are:

H1248 Highview Lane, St. Helier
O622 and O623 La Rue de la Croute, St. Ouen
G392A, Grouville
H1186A St. Helier
H1189 St. Helier
H1198 St. Helier
H1219 in St. Helier next to Haute Vallée School
S341 Bel Air Lane, St. Saviour
S413, S415, St Saviour (extension to Les Cinq Chênes Estate)
S530, St Saviour (behind Le Clos Paumelle)
S729, St Saviour (The former Longueville Nursery off New York Lane, Longueville Road)
L127, La Grande Route de St. Laurent / La Fraide Rue, St. Lawrence
MY563, St. Mary
G508, G508A, G526,G526A G521A, Grouville
P558, St. Peter (adjacent to the Queen’s Jubilee Homes)