Health worker homes site 'offers quick solution'

A letter submitted by Health & Social Care and Policy & Resources argued the field had been selected because it offered the quickest solution

New details about a planning application for homes for Guernsey health workers on a field at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital have been submitted.

A consultation is under way almost a year since the last bid to build 66 homes on state-owned land was put at risk when concerns were raised over the site selection process and the use of “prime agricultural land”.

A letter submitted by Health & Social Care (HSC) and Policy & Resources (P&R) has argued the field had been selected because it offered the quickest solution.

The public is being invited to have their say on the proposals by 25 October.

'Urgent need'

The States’ Development & Planning Authority has now received new supporting evidence clarifying the thinking behind the development, with the revised application published online this week.

HSC said in its letter the site choice also meant negotiations with a "private owner could be avoided" and it did not rely on existing public property being "decanted or freed up" at the existing hospital campus.

HSC President Al Brouard said the "intention of this submission was to evidence the urgent and strategic need for additional key worker accommodation, to continue to support and ensure the resilience of health and social care services in the bailiwick".

He said: "The challenges affecting the recruitment of staff required to deliver essential health and social care services to our community has been well-publicised.

"The operating context has changed significantly following the Covid-19 pandemic and a wide range of factors, including cost of living challenges, are having an increased bearing on the decisions people make about where they live and work."

P&R member Deputy Jonathan le Tocq has not added his support for the project to the letter from his committee.