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A decision made by the Development and Planning Authority could be rescinded after the entire States Trading and Supervisory Board decided to oppose its rejection of inert waste plans.
The DPA dramatically tore up Guernsey Waste’s plans to temporarily stockpile surplus builder's waste at Longue Hougue following a public planning meeting last week.
Guernsey Waste have now been sent back to the drawing board with just a matter of months before the void at Longue Hougue north is filled with inert waste, which has been ongoing since 1995.
The situation has only been created because States members have consistently failed to agree on a permanent site to dump inert waste.
The decision last week was a shock to many in the island, including those in the construction industry, other politicians, and the Chamber of Commerce, mainly because the original planning application had no opposition and there is now very little time to find an alternative.
STSB has now come out to officially oppose the decision, going so far as to ask the DPA to revoke it, something the Authority is unable to do. It appears the only recourse available to the Board is via the Land Planning and Development Law, where a planning application decision can be challenged in the States via debate.
It’s a course of action the President of STSB, Deputy Peter Roffey laments, while he tries to seek a less “aggressive” means to rectify the situation.
“I have spoken to Deputy Oliver since the STSB met and I asked that the DPA members reflect on their decision and the consequences that it will have, which include the enormous uncertainty that the construction industry now faces,” he said.
“She has advised that simply changing their decision is not possible, so it is hard to see that there is any way forward other than asking the States to set that decision aside. That said we will continue to look for a less confrontational way forwardif at all possible, but that cannot include a revised, scaled down, application which fails to address the island’s strategic needs in respect of inert waste. That would simply be irresponsible.
“We have been warning for some time that in the absence of agreement by the States on a future site for the management of inert waste, we will have to stockpile material for a number of years. In 2020 the States agreed that would be done at Longue Hougue, and the remaining space within the current land reclamation site is about to run out, so we need to start now.
“Failure to do so will mean that within the next few months the island will have no site for managing residual inert waste. That would have a devastating impact on the local 2 construction industry, therefore the STSB is duty bound to exhaust every option to avoid that scenario.
“This situation is highly regrettable but was completely avoidable. Given that there was absolutely no opposition to the application, and planning officers advised that it could be supported within planning policy it is hard a fathom how the DPA chose to create such an untenable situation. Even if the States do agree with us in September I have no doubt that the uncertainty in the interim will have a significant impact on Guernsey’s construction industry.”
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