Fewer fields, more gardens?

Tuesday 05 February 2019

Changes to the way Guernsey's land is managed could see more agricultural land being given over to domestic gardens.

Last week alone there were three planning applications to bring fields within the domestic curtilage of the homeowners garden. During the whole of 2017, 17 such applications were approved.

A spokesman for the Development and Planning Authority said under the Island Development Plan, which was adopted by the States in 2016, there is more flexibility compared with previous Development Plans, so we could see more gardens being formed. 

Any applications for the creation of, or extension of domestic curtilage, are usually assessed under 'Policy GP15' of the IDP.

That says that within Agriculture Priority Areas, any proposals for new or extensions to existing curtilages will be accepted if it can be proved the land can't "positively contribute to the commercial agricultural use of an Agriculture Priority Area or cannot practicably be used for commercial agriculture within an Agriculture Priority Area without unacceptable adverse environmental impacts, such as the loss of hedge banks or landscape features, and subject to satisfying other relevant policies of the Island Development Plan."

If a proposal will affect agricultural holdings it will be assessed under different policies within the IDP. If any sites of special significance for biodiversity reasons are affected they are also considered differently.