Affordable housing plan for Route Militaire land

Land off Militaire Road could soon be developed for affordable housing

A site earmarked for a business park could soon be developed for affordable housing.

The 16 acre plot located off Route Militaire has been bought for £4.75m and could be used to create about 190 new homes.

The undeveloped site is zoned as one of four key industrial areas, which means it cannot currently be developed for housing.

An application will be made requesting a change of use.

Plans for the land - officially named Guernsey Business Park - once included a data storage park.

Traffic lights and a junction were installed on the road leading to it more than 10 years ago.

The site has now been bought by the Guernsey Housing Association (GHA), with the support of the Committee for Employment and Social Security.

The GHA said its size meant there was potential for a mixed development to include key worker, social rental and partial ownership properties.

'Desperate need'

GHA chief executive Steve Williams said the land was a "unique opportunity" that "pending change of use approval" would "present a chance for us to make significant inroads into providing housing for the growing number of people in need of affordable housing".

"We know that some of the island's critical services are in dire need of key worker accommodation to secure appropriate staff and we also have some 500 people on waiting lists for partial ownership and social rental," he added.

Deputy Peter Roffey, president of the Committee for Employment and Social Security said while there was "some risk" the site would not receive the necessary change of use permissions, the committee felt it was a "calculated risk to take".

He added the island was in "desperate need of more affordable housing".

Follow BBC Guernsey on Twitter and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].