Government of Jersey

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A decision made 18 January 2010 regarding: Appeal - refusal for sale of parts of Field 785, St. Ouen.

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2010-0001
Decision Summary Title	Appeal against Officer’s decision to refuse consent to purchase parts of field 785 St Ouen		Date of Decision Summary:	11/01/10
Decision Summary Author :	Land Controls and Planning Officer		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title:	Proposed sale of parts of field 785 St Ouen		Date of Written Report:	20/12//09
Written Report Author	Land Controls and Planning Officer		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	public
Subject: Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Lease) (Jersey) Law, 1974: an appeal to the Minister has been received to overturn officer’s decision to refuse consent to the sale of parts of field 758 St. Ouen, under the 1974 Law.
Decision(s): The Minister authorised the sale of part of field 785 St. Ouen.
Reason(s) for Decision: Due to the safety issues involved and the recommendation of the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service and the possible future use of the site as category “A” housing.
Resource Implications: None
Action required: Minister to instruct land control section to permit sale from Mrs Elizabeth Doreen Frazier to Mr Charles Lewis Michael Hickinbottom. Land controls to issue Land Transaction form.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Appeal - refusal for sale of parts of Field 785, St. Ouen

Ministerial Decision

Title

Proposed sale of part of Field 785 St. Ouen

Background

Mrs Elizabeth Doreen Frazier née Quérée applied for Ministerial consent to sell part of field 785 St Ouen to Charles Lewis Michael Hickinbottom under the provision of the Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law, 1974 in October 2009.

This transaction was refused by The Projects and Compliance Officer on the grounds that it was against established policy under the above Law to permit the sale of parts of fields as this could create areas of land too small to be viable for an agriculturalist to occupy, resulting in their loss to agriculture.

The land in question was purchased in 1995 when full agricultural restrictions were placed on it in accordance to the Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law, 1974. Under the new draft Island Plan this old glasshouse unit has been proposed as a possible category A housing development.

Issue

Mr Hickinbottom is wheel chair bound and has concerns with the safety of his property in the case of fire and has documentation from the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service strongly recommending that there is an exit from the garden area of his property.

Response

The Agricultural Land (Control of Sales and Leases) (Jersey) Law, 1974 was introduced to maintain an agricultural land bank for the use of the agricultural industry. The prevention of the reduction of good workable land available to the industry is the long term aim of the 1974 Law. However in exceptional circumstances land can be exempted from the restrictions of the 1974 Land Law with the Minister’s consent.

Recommendation

In view of the representation by the Fire Department, the possible future re categorisation of the land in the draft Island Plan and the benefits to Mr Hickenbottom it is recommended that the sale can be permitted for non agricultural use.