'Ridiculous' to reject island development plan

Richard Blampied said the rejection was "ridiculous"

Companies and islanders have branded the decision to reject a development in Jersey as "ridiculous" and "a waste of money".

Le Masurier, a property development company, had planned to build more than 230 homes and a hotel with 103 rooms in St Helier but the proposal was rejected for the second time by the government on Monday.

Deputy Hilary Jeune, the assistant minister for environment, rejected the scheme between Broad Street and Commercial Street as it "significantly" exceeded the height range guidance for the town.

Buildings had already been knocked down to make way for the development and the company said unless there was political intervention and the decision overturned, "sadly the site will remain as is".

'Hole in the town'

Chief Minister Kristina Moore said she was "extremely disappointed" by the rejection.

Brian McCarthy, from Le Masurier, thanked Ms Moore for her support, saying the development would "meet a significant number of the government's common strategic priorities such as housing, tourism [and] regeneration".

He said: "Obviously we would welcome any political intervention in an attempt to reverse the... decision and the more you read through the independent inspector's report, the more you challenge the decision given his overwhelming recommendation for approval."

The company said it had "invested millions of pounds" so far and that it had "no intention of spending more to go through the same process again".

Simon Crowcroft said the rejection had left a "hole in the heart of town"

St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said he thought the reasons for rejection were "pretty flimsy".

He said: "The council of ministers is really concerned, the chief minister has already spoken out against the refusal, people are looking to see if there is anything we can do politically to roll this back and see if we can get an approval."

Mr Crowcroft said there would now be "a hole in the heart of town".

"We want a development that will bring homes, that will bring people, that will bring visitors into St Helier, and that's why I completely understand the frustration of the developer, and indeed I share that myself," he said.

Mark Fisher said he thought it was "a crazy decision" to reject the plans

Mark Fisher, from Fotosound, said he thought it was "a crazy decision" that would have a "detrimental effect".

Richard Blampied, from Aurum Jewellers, said it was "unbelievable" that a "common ground" could not be found.

"Surely the parties get together, sit down and sort it out... The situation that we've got now is just ridiculous, it just reflects so badly on Jersey," he said.

Le Masurier said "sadly the site would remain as is" if the rejection was not overturned

One shopper in the town said the rejection was "quite sad".

She said: "I think it was a development that would have benefitted a lot of people in a lot of ways, we need the housing, and it looked like a really well thought-out complex."

Another women said it looked "even worse" without anything there now.

"We can't just leave it like that," she added.