Planning reviewing all the options for harbours planning guidance

Wednesday 14 June 2023

Local planning briefs for all eventualities at St. Peter Port’s and St. Sampson’s harbours will be drawn up in lieu of political direction from States members.

The Development & Planning Authority were supposed to draw up one planning brief based on the decision of future commercial and passenger harbour infrastructure but deputies have failed to find consensus since 2020.

Instead, the Authority will prepare land use policies based on both commercial port operations continuing as they are now, and on certain activities being relocated out of Town and the Bridge.

The briefs are a legal requirement under planning law and have a decade-long lifespan. It is expected it will take 18-months to complete the process, which will involve public input and consultation.

A spokesperson for the DPA said all local planning briefs have a 10-year lifespan and addressing all possibilities in the round would ensure “sufficient flexibility to adapt to any future decision of the States” on the harbours.

“In practice, the direction set in scenario a, if approved by the States, will set the policies for development in the Harbour Action Areas up until the States reach a decision regarding the location of future commercial port development. Should the States resolve in favour of relocating commercial port operations away from St Peter Port and St Sampson, at that point the direction set in scenario b will then replace that in scenario a.”

They added that the remaining research, decision making, and the physical building of any new harbour infrastructure is likely to take around 10-years before becoming operational.

Pictured: Deputies twice sunk proposals to construct a new lift-on, lift-off commercial port in St. Sampsons.

The Policy & Resources Committee has been in control of harbour planning since 2021 and were later granted authority from deputies to draft plans for any future harbour developments in April 2022. 

The responsibility previously sat with the States Trading Supervisory Board which twice attempted to steer plans for a new reclaimed commercial port at Longue Hougue South through the Assembly this political term. 

The current Policy & Resources have since confirmed that it will not bring forward any plans, with any strategic decisions left to the next committee.