Cost of Island Plan (FOI)

Request

A

What was the total cost to produce the current Island Plan?

B

What is the budget for producing the next Island Plan?

C

In the previous Island Plan, the category H4 existed (sites for future housing development). In the current Island Plan that category was removed. Why?

Response

A

The current Island Plan (the Revised 2011 Island Plan) was first prepared in 2011 where costs, which included those of communication and engagement; the preparation and publication of a range of reports; the costs of engaging independent planning inspectors to hold an Examination in Public; and some internal costs, amounted to £358,071.88

Parts of the plan were the subject of an interim review in 2014 (see the following link):

2011 Island Plan Interim Review

External costs for this interim review, which primarily involved the costs of engaging independent planning inspectors to hold a further Examination in Public, amounted to £131,428.32.

B

Funding of £350,000 has been secured to support the work required to undertake the Island Plan Review. See Ministerial Decision TR-2018-0131 at the following link:

MD -TR-2018-0131

The last comprehensive Island Plan Review, undertaken in 2011, relied upon a range of earlier studies (such Countryside Character Appraisal, undertaken in 1999; the St Helier Urban Character Appraisal, undertaken in 2005; and the Mineral Strategy, commissioned in 1999), which are now out-of-date, and need to be reviewed to ensure that the new Island Plan has a sound and robust evidence base. We also propose to widen the scope of the Island Plan beyond that undertaken in 2011, to ensure that it meets new States of Jersey objectives such as putting children first and responding to the climate change emergency. We want more Islanders to get involved with the plan-making process to ensure that we have a new Island Plan that best reflects the community’s aspirations and needs and will need to invest in better communication and engagement. We also want the plan-making process to be quicker, and we will need to secure some additional help to enable us to do this.

In light of all of this, we have sought to secure additional funding of £650,000 for the Island Plan Review. Such additional funding is detailed within the Government Plan on page 205:

Proposed Island Plan 2020-2023

C

Policy H4 of the 2002 Island Plan sought to safeguard sites for future Category A housing needs (see 8.25-8.26):

2002 Island Plan: Housing

The strategic approach to delivering affordable housing was changed in the 2011 Island Plan when the States Assembly approved Policy H3, which sought to secure a proportion of affordable housing to be provided on private residential development sites where they met specified criteria (see the Housing Chapter of the 2011 Island Plan):

2011 Island Plan: Housing

There was considerable discussion about the approach to delivering housing at the Examination in Public held into the review of the Island Plan in 2010-2011: this is set out in the Inspectors’ Report to the Minister, which can be found on pages 50 - 71 at the following link:

Report to the Minister for Planning and Environment 

Policy H3 of the 2011 Island Plan was not, however, implemented. In July 2014, the States Assembly adopted a revised approach to the delivery of affordable homes which is set out in the current Revised 2011 Island Plan - see the polices and proposals of the Housing Chapter of the current Island Plan at the following link:

Revised 2011 Island Plan

Article applied

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