24 April 2014
An application to demolish a nineteenth century lodge in Waterworks Valley has been approved by the Planning Applications Panel (on Thursday 24 April 2014).
Jersey Water applied to demolish Millbrook Lodge, the reservoir keeper’s cottage on Le Chemin des Moulins, St Lawrence, citing of its poor state of repair.
A report by planning officers stated that the public has a right to expect better stewardship of historic buildings from publicly-owned bodies but Jersey Water argued that the lodge was beyond repair after being built on unstable ground.
Jersey Water had also applied for permission to rebuild the listed building nearby and to divert the existing stream and footpath and provide three car parking spaces along Ruelle de St Clair. The panel agreed with officers that there would be little conservation merit in rebuilding Millbrook Lodge as it was not justified as an exception to green zone policy.
Park Estate home
The Planning Applications Panel also approved an application to construct a new house following demolition of the existing building on a large plot in Park Estate, St Brelade. The property is a contemporary building, on what is described in a planning report as a substantial site.
The department’s officers backed the proposal, despite it being a larger footprint than the existing building, because of the spacious plot and the quality of the design for the new home.
The panel considered concerns by neighbours about overlooking and the scale of development, but concluded that any potential impact was not unreasonable within the established built-up area.