Public voice heard as IDP could get 'top-to-bottom' review

Wednesday 22 May 2019

The DPA is looking for funding from Policy & Resources to pay for a 'top-to-bottom' review of the Island Development Plan.

The Development and Planning Authority has put together an 'Action Plan' alongside planning its already scheduled five year review of the IDP, but now says it will need funding to complete this extra investigation. To get that funding, it will be laying an amendment in the States to the P&R plan.

The IDP and the policies surrounding it determine how Guernsey is physically developed. The DPA has to review it both quarterly and annually, looking at how the policies are working but, and in addition, they are tasked with completing a five year review looking at housing land supply and employment land.

This 'Action Plan' would go further than that and expand the scope of that five year review. It would be a 'significant process of research, review and community engagement'. 

The resources the amendment would get would not only ensure that this deeper dive can be made, but would also allow for 'quick fixes' to be made in the process. 

Deputy Dawn Tindall, the Vice President of the Authority, said: "There’s a real public appetite for a detailed review of the Island Development Plan, one that gets to the bottom of issues like affordable housing, the overall housing supply, development frameworks, and what land should or should not be developed - the green field versus brown field debate. But in order to do justice to those issues, the D&PA requires funding beyond its current budget. We think this is a genuine priority not just for government, but for the whole community."

She is the most senior committee member at the moment, as Deputy John Gollop, the former President, resigned recently. There will be an election for a new President in the States meeting due to start today. 

Pictured top: Guernsey on Google Maps.