20 August 2015
At its meeting today (20 August 2015), the Planning Applications Committee granted permission for the Jersey Oyster Company to expand its processing unit and to build facilities that will allow it to develop its export business.
The scheme seeks to improve aquaculture facilities for oyster breeding, production and packaging, close to the shore. The company applied to build a single-storey extension, a salt water lagoon, 12 salt water purification ponds and a pumping house on land in Grouville.
The nursery ponds will be used to cultivate seed oysters, which means that the business will not have to import young oysters and will be able to restock the oyster beds when needed.
The proposed new extension would provide a clean area for the packaging of oysters to be sold directly to the retail market. According to the Jersey Oyster Company, the benefit of selling directly to retailers is that it creates a Jersey identity for the product, as well as a constant supply of ‘Grade A’ oysters.
The site is on La Grande Route des Sablons, which is in the Green Zone, where development isn’t generally allowed. However, the Island Plan is supportive of proposals that aim to extend existing employment sites without serious impact to the landscape.
The Planning Department supported the scheme and said it recognised the development was essential to the development of the aquaculture industry.
New homes for Wolf’s Caves
The Planning Applications Committee also agreed an application (P/2015/0450) for a six-bedroom home and guest accommodation on the site of a former nightclub in the coastal national park at Wolf’s Caves.
The site was most recently used by the Abundant Life Church Centre, following permission in 2003, for a change of use from a public bar and coffee shop into a church meeting facility. Permission was then granted in March 2010 for the demolition of the old buildings and for the development of one large dwelling (plus ancillary accommodation) in a contemporary architectural form. This permission has been implemented by the clearance of the site.
The new application is also for a large house with attached staff accommodation, a guest cottage, swimming pool and tennis court. In granting permission, the Committee felt the existence of the 2010 permission was a major consideration, and that the new application would lead to environmental gains, particularly by the reduction in scale from the approved scheme, the re-siting of the building and the change to a traditional architectural form.
La Coupe House
Plans to extend another large house in St Martin were also approved by the Committee. The application (P/2015/0762) was for La Coupe House, La Rue de la Coupe. The owners want to build a single-storey extension, demolish the stables and sand school, and build a new pond. The Planning Department supported the application because of the landscape improvements proposed.
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