Keppel Tower, Elizabeth Cottage & Maison du Roc, La Grande Route des Sablons, Grouville: Planning Application (P/2011/1221): Determination of the Minister

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A decision made 25 September 2014:

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2014-0080			Application Number: P/2011/1221 (If applicable)
Decision Summary Title :	Keppel Tower, Elizabeth Cottage & Maison du Roc, La Grande Route des Sablons, Grouville		Date of Decision Summary:		16 September 2014
Decision Summary Author:	Principal Planner		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)		Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:		n/a
Written Report Title :	P/2011/1221		Date of Written Report:		16 September 2014
Written Report Author:	Principal Planner		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)		Public
Subject: Keppel Tower, Elizabeth Cottage & Maison du Roc, La Grande Route des Sablons, Grouville, Jersey, JE3 9FP Demolish existing dwellings. Remove existing extension and renovate existing tower. Construct 19 No. residential units of accommodation. Model Available. REVISED PLANS: Demolish existing dwellings. Renovate existing tower. Construct 17 No. residential units of accommodation. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Further details received following Royal Court decision. Perspective drawings and heritage appraisal. REVISED PLANS: Alterations to Block A. FURTHER REVISED PLANS: Additional alterations to form and scale of gable to Block A.
Decision(s): At the Ministerial Meeting of 11th July 2014 the Minister received the Department report dated 1st July 2014 and heard public comment in relation to the subject planning application, and deferred his decision pending a site visit, when he wished to view a scaffold profile of part of the proposed Block A. The relevant site visit was undertaken on 21st July 2014, when the scaffold profile was observed. Following the visit the Minister confirmed he was not content with the scale and form of the gable of the proposed Block A as it projects to the roadside. His reasons for this related to : (1) the impact of the gable on the public view of Keppel Tower from the south, where it can currently be seen in conjunction with Seymour Cottage, as an important visual link, relevant to the historic setting of Seymour Cottage; and (2) the physical proximity, scale and form of the gable having an overbearing impacts on the rear amenity space of Prospect House, and so being harmful to the amenities of that property. The Minister then provided the applicant with the opportunity to reconsider the scale and form of the gable to proposed Block A, and address the identified points. Revised plans were received on 5th August 2014 and duly readvertised for a further period of public consultation. In response to the consultation period, eleven letters of objection have been received. Of these eleven letters, three are from the same address, one is from the Deputy of Grouville, and one is accompanied by a petition with 43 signatures. The applicant has submitted a letter in response to these objections, and this elicited two further letters. All this correspondence is attached, with the key issues raised being: the changes to the gable are small in the context of the rest of the scheme; the revised gable remains out of context with the area and is not vernacular; density remains too high and the character of the area remains compromised; traffic and highways concerns remain to be addressed; construction issues in relation to subsidence and tidal damage are not resolved; there are other Listed Buildings in the wider vicinity and the impacts on their setting have not been reviewed; in long views from the sea the scale of Block A and the rest of the development will be unfragmented; the benefits to Keppel Tower and its setting are not sufficient to over-ride the protection offered to Seymour Cottage and its setting; The development is outside the “margin of appreciation” within which the Minster could depart from policy; the whole process is not representative of neighbourhood engagement. In relation to other matters raised in the representations, the Department can now confirm that Policy GD2 of the 2011 Island Plan was deleted in the Revised Island Plan, adopted in July 2014. Therefore (other than in relation to Waste Management policies) the applicant is not required to provide a justification for the demolition of Maison Du Roc. A further consultation response from the Historic Environment Team (20 August 2014) has also been received. They re-state earlier comments and confirm that the width of the gable remains outside what could be considered as a vernacular response, and no changes have been made to the remainder of Block A to deal with the arising issues of scale and mass. The Minister confirmed he has considered the further revised plans, the consultation response and all the representations. He has also reconsidered the Department report as presented to his meeting of 11th July 2014 (attached). The Minister noted the proposals now keep the key visual connection between Seymour Cottage and Keppel Tower, so maintaining the link between these historic coastal structures. The Minister noted that this would be the case when travelling from the south (as the Tower would remain visible over the lower element of the roof line of the revised gable) and when travelling from the north (as, with the introduction of the proposed pavement, the existing gable of Seymour Cottage would have a greater prominence in the street). The Minister also noted that, from the site visit to review the scaffold profile, the visual break between Block A and Seymour Cottage, when seen in views from the sea, was appropriate to the character of the area, and did not adversely affect the architectural or historic setting of Seymour Cottage as a Listed Building. It was further observed from the site visit that the key issue in relation to Prospect House was the overbearing impact of the proposed gable of Block A in relation to the rear (primary) amenity space of that property. The Minister noted the revised plans now reduce the scale of the gable facing Prospect House to the same height as the existing garage structure and he also noted that the risk of overlooking is minimal given the physical relationship between Prospect House and the proposed development (in relation to the distances between the windows and gable-to-the-road orientation of Prospect House) so as to not result in any unreasonable impacts. Aside from Seymour Cottage, the Minister reviewed the impacts on the setting of the other Listed Buildings in the vicinity of the site (as noted in the Department Report, the Historic Environment consultation response, and the letters of representation). The Minister confirmed he is content that (as per the advice in March 2013 from the Historic Environment Team) any impacts will not be sufficient to affect their historic interest or character. The Minister has noted the position in Policy HE1 is that “Permission will not be granted for extensions, alterations and changes which would adversely affect the architectural or historic interest or character of a Listed building or place and its setting.” The Minister also understands that this is one policy within the suite of Island Plan policies, and that the final determination will require a balanced conclusion, weighing potentially competing objectives across various policies. The Minister confirmed he has further reviewed the Royal Court Judgement in the case of Herold v Minister for Planning and Environment, which identified that the successful ground of appeal was the failure to consider the historic setting of Seymour Cottage, as required by Policy HE1, and then the failure to balance any impacts against other planning considerations within the application. In the context of all of the above, the Minister resolved to endorse the Department recommendation that the application be approved, subject to the conditions and subject to the prior completion of a Planning Obligation Agreement, as set out in the Department report heard at the 11th July Ministerial Meeting.
Reason(s) for Decision: The proposed development has been amended to address concerns raised and is considered to be acceptable having due regard to all of the material considerations raised. In particular, the development has been assessed against Policies GD1, GD3, GD5, HE1, HE5, H6, BE4 and WM1 of the Jersey Island Plan 2011. In this case, having regard to the character and grain of the area, and the scale, form and architecture of the proposal, alongside the full package of works including to the Martello tower, the proposed development is regarded as acceptable because it is in the Built Up Area, in accord with the Spatial Strategy, does not harm the Shoreline Zone objectives, does not detract from the amenities of the area and provides enhancements to the urban form and historic environment. The impact on the setting of individual Listed Buildings has also been considered and found to be acceptable particularly when balanced across the impacts on all Listed Buildings, and other planning considerations within the application. In addition, the representations raised to the scheme have been assessed. It is considered that the proposal does not have an unreasonable impact on amenities of neighbours or the area generally. As such, a balanced assessment of the application concludes that it accords with the terms of the policies within the Jersey Island Plan 2011. The representations received regarding the impact on Seymour Cottage have been fully assessed. The Minister considers that the proposal would not adversely affect the historic interest of this Listed building or its setting. If a minor adverse impact upon this Grade 4 building was accepted this would be balanced by the significant positive benefits to the Grade 3 Keppel Tower.
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):