Historic buildings lost ‘due to private deals’

Wednesday 19th September 2007, 12:00AM BST.

DEALS made behind closed doors have lost St Helier two of its historic buildings, according to a campaigner.

André Ferrari, from the Council for Protection of Jersey’s Heritage, had been fighting to save 46 and 48 Colomberie since 2006 but says that his arguments were useless because of an agreement reached in 2005. A letter from the Planning Committee that year – when it was headed by Senator Philip Ozouf – gave Sadler House Ltd permission to demolish the buildings six months before any application was publicly lodged. The developer produced the letter at a public hearing in April 2007 and as a result Environment Minister Freddie Cohen said that he had no choice but to approve their plans for a five-storey office block. Mr Ferrari says that the letter has undermined the integrity of the planning process and has called for a full investigation.

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