L'Industrie La Rue des Samares: Ministerial call-in of Planning Application

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A decision made on 2 August 2012:

Decision Reference: MD-PE- 2012-0084			Application Number: P/2011/0813 (If applicable)
Decision Summary Title :	L`Industrie, La Rue de Samares, , St. Clement, ,		Date of Decision Summary:		10th July 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Director, Development Control		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)		Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Oral		Person Giving Oral Report:		Director, Development Control
Written Report Title :	n/a		Date of Written Report:		n/a
Written Report Author:	--		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)		--
Subject: L`Industrie, La Rue de Samares, , St. Clement, , Demolish existing sheds. Construct 9 No. dwellings. Model Available.
Decision(s): In accordance with the Code of Conduct for the Minister of Planning and Environment in the determination of planning applications and pre-application advice (MD-PE-2006-0012; MD-PE-2011-0120 and Section 3 of the Scheme of Delegation for the Minister for Planning and Environment, December 2011) the Minister confirmed that following the decision of the Planning Applications Panel to overturn the officer recommendation for refusal and indicate that they are minded to approve the application, he is calling-in this application for his determination.
Reason(s) for Decision: Where the Planning Applications Panel is minded to reach a decision on an application which is fundamentally contrary to the Department’s recommendation, the decision will not be taken at that meeting, but referred to the Minister, who may seek further information, issue advice to the Panel, or decide the application him/herself. In this respect, the Minister considered that the decision of the Panel was, on the face of it, contrary to the Island Plan Protection of Employment Land policy and Supplementary Planning Guidance and wished to determine the application himself. As such, this application constitutes a strategically important application. In arriving at this decision, the Minister was particularly mindful of the judgements of the Royal Court in relation to two recent cases (Manning and Ruette Pinel Farm Ltd) where the Court had criticised the previous Minister for engaging in private meetings with either applicants or third parties to discuss planning applications. Because the Minister had met with the applicant and his representatives (at their request) he considered carefully whether it would be appropriate to determine this application. The Minister recalled that he had been invited by the applicant to consider solutions to the policy issues raised by the application, namely its compliance with Island Plan policy E1 (and the subsequent Supplementary Planning Guidance) and the position of the Built Up Area Boundary. The Minister had also visited the site to appreciate the context of the surrounding area. Whilst Department Officers had had detailed discussions with the applicant’s agents, the Minister was clear that he had given no indication to the applicant on his views on these matters. He remained of the view that he could determine the application because: a) the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002 was clear that the power to determine applications rested with the Minister; b) although powers could be delegated to either the department or the Planning Applications Panel, those powers could be recalled by the Minister at any time; c) it was stated within the Minister’s published protocols that, where the Planning Applications Panel departed from officer advice, the application would be referred to him for his consideration; d) in this case, important policy matters had not been adequately considered by the Panel and it was his duty to ensure that the States approved Island Plan was fully and properly taken into account; e) there were clear differences in the circumstances surrounding this application and the Ruette Pinel Farm Ltd. application. Specifically, the Minister had been invited by the applicant himself to attend the meeting and it would be perverse if the applicant now sought to prevent the Minister from taking a decision as a result of his attendance. Further, the Minister had not himself advised on any of the discussions between his officers and the applicant and so did not consider that he had either predetermined the application, or that there was any apparent or actual bias which could result from that meeting. Accordingly, the Minister decided that he would call-in the application for his own determination.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: Notify Agent, Applicant and all other interested parties
Signature: Deputy R C Duhamel		PLeg / AS Initials		Position: Minister for Planning and Environment
Date Signed:				Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):