Using green land for new homes 'unavoidable'

There is only a "limited amount of space" to build on, Deputy Sasha Kazantseva Millar said

It will be "unavoidable" not to use land without property on it for more housing in Guernsey, an authority has said.

Deputy Sasha Kazantseva Millar, member of the Planning and Development Authority, said Guernsey had a "real and widely acknowledged need for housing" but "only a limited amount of space to build".

The authority's planning policy, which required a portion of housing developments to be affordable or social housing, was suspended for five years in April.

Olly Brock, from the National Trust, said they were “very concerned” about the prospect of losing more green and agricultural land in Guernsey.

He said: "We are losing our countryside to gentrification and a development of dwellings on a one at a time basis at the moment.

"There's almost no control over it because the planning system allows that to happen."

Mr Brock said he believed a better solution would be to build higher density properties in areas such as St Martin.

'Minimise impact'

Ms Kazantseva-Millar said the authority had hoped more sites would have come forward to prevent using more green spaces.

She said: "We don’t want to build on greenfield sites and had hoped that more deliverable brownfield sites in the right locations would have come forward as part of the Call for Sites, but this wasn’t the case.

"Therefore, we simply don’t have the luxury of choosing any land on the island for housing."

Ms Kazantseva-Millar added that proposed sites would make sure any developments would be "within or immediately adjacent to existing main and local centres, minimising impact on rural areas".

Islanders have the opportunity to share their views on the Island Development Plan until 29 July.