"No demand for four-bedroom houses"

Friday 31 May 2019

Planning has rebuffed Melody Press' application to demolish its L'Islet premises and build four properties on the site.

The owners of the site wanted to build a 4 bedroom 1-and-a-half storey dwelling facing La Route Du Picquerel and a row of 3, three bedroom 2-and-a-half storey houses on the premises.

Although the printing business has been there since 1956, its owners said the premises are no longer required as "the changing nature of the printing business has resulted in the building no longer being required as a printing unit."

Because of issues with asbestos debris, damp issues and lack of thermal insulation in the roof and walls, the cost of bringing the buildings up to current standards "would exceed the cost of demolition and rebuilding of the unit”, although no calculations were submitted to Planning in support of this. Redevelopment for office use would also be "commercially unviable" due to the lack of requirement for office space at L’Islet.

The rear section of the building has been vacant for over 4 years and, according to the owners, has been marketed consistently during this time with very little success.

However, Planning raised a number of concerns and said that crucial requirements had not been met.

"It has not been shown that the existing building is no longer required for an employment use and is not capable of being upgraded to meet modern standards or that the site is no longer required in the context of maintaining and enhancing the existing range of employment uses in the L'Islet Local Centre. Alternatively, it has not been demonstrated that the entire unit has been actively and appropriately marketed unsuccessfully for 12 consecutive months. Whilst only one of the two tests, (a) or (b), needs to be met, neither has been."

"There are concerns about the overall design of the residential development due to its significant and unacceptable impact on the neighbouring property to the south-east by virtue of the loss of privacy and the limited size of the private gardens for the three bedroom dwellings." 

Planning also ruled against the type of properties that had been proposed.

"Current evidence regarding private market housing suggests a need for homes of 1 to 3 bedrooms, with an emphasis on 2 and 3 bedrooms," they said. "The inclusion of a four bed unit is not reflective of the current Island requirements and is therefore not considered to be appropriate. No economic or social reasons have been provided to justify the proposed mix and type of dwellings and consequently the proposal is contrary to Policy LC2 part (b)."