Relax rules to help housing crisis - builders

Officials said they had received "hundreds" of comments on the Island Development Plan

Representatives from Guernsey's construction industry believe planning rules should be relaxed - and smaller developments encouraged - to allow more new homes to be built.

But environmentalists have reiterated their calls for greenzone land to be protected at all costs.

They are amongst hundreds of people to have shared their views on the Island Development Plan (IDP) - the document which dictates which areas of land can be developed.

Officials reviewing the IDP said they would respond to each comment by Monday 12 August.

John Bampkin, from the Guernsey Construction Forum, believes there should be a fresh call for smaller sites

John Bampkin, chair of the Guernsey Construction Forum, said the industry had the capacity to build more homes, but it needed "some certainty".

He said: "We have to be very careful that we don't just rely on the Guernsey Housing Association, the two or three large sites that have been purchased, and we end up with a lot of mono-tenure housing again that we've had previously."

Mr Bampkin said there should be a fresh call for smaller sites, of which he said there were "hundreds" island wide.

"We need a site-by-site basis review on those sites, and the IDP needs to show a certain level of flexibility to get these smaller sites moving - these 10, 15 houses, and more private development - because at the moment, it doesn't allow for a lot of that," he added.

The Island Development Plan was "unlikely to provide the amount of housing that the States has identified as being needed", said Steve Roussel

Steve Roussel, president of the Guernsey Building Trades Employers' Association, said the IDP was "unlikely to provide the amount of housing that the States has identified as being needed".

He agreed a different approach was required and said: "Smaller developments would be be easier and quicker for private developers to start to produce more housing in a shorter time scale."

"We should not be building on greenfield sites," said Trevor Bourgaize, from La Société Guernesiaise

Despite accepting that more building is likely to take place in Guernsey, environmentalists have expressed concerns about the potential impact on the island's natural environment of more construction.

"We should not be building on greenfield sites," said Trevor Bourgaize from La Société Guernesiaise.

"We have numerous brownfield sites that aren't being used.

"We have permissions in place to build 2,000 private homes.

"Why do we need to keep on spreading into greenfield sites, extending the parish boundaries?

"If the will was there to build houses then they could be built."

Deputy Victoria Oliver said islanders' views would help officials to "further refine" their plans

In a statement, Deputy Victoria Oliver, President of the Development & Planning Authority, said: "We’re really pleased with the number of individuals, groups and organisations who have engaged with our proposed changes to the Island Development Plan.

"Listening to these comments gives us the opportunity to take these onboard and enhance our ideas so that we can further refine them.

"We’re going through these comments one at a time to make sure that we carefully consider each one."

'Some quicker decisions'

With officials due to respond to islanders' views next week, Mr Bampkin said he hoped more consultation and then "some quicker decisions" would follow.

He also expressed concerns about the rejection last month of plans to temporarily stockpile construction waste at Longue Hougue - a decision which one deputy said had left building firms "in the soup".

"There are a couple of options that are being looked at, the States are saying we will have something decided in the next couple of months," he said.

"But I think we only have got five or six weeks left where we are, so again, that needs to be moved on quickly."