JERSEY’S ever-increasing population growth is unsustainable, according to an environmental campaign group.

Concern has warned that debating the next Island Plan ahead of a sustainable population policy will result in ‘environmental death’. They also warn that building more in town is not the ‘magic solution’ as it would not resolve the issue of increased demand for water supplies, waste disposal, medical care, schooling, and the potential increase in traffic congestion.

In a statement in response to the Island Plan green paper they say: ‘Why do we need a completely new Island Plan a mere six years after the publication of the last one? ‘The answer is in one of the first paragraphs of the document.
‘The “rate of change in many spheres of Island life” has been such that the old plan has become out of date. The term “rate of change” might be better expressed by the phrase “pressure of population growth”.

‘There has been much discussion of the benefits of “growing” the working population to pay for the needs of an ageing population, but the simple fact of the matter is that Jersey’s population has grown anyway, policy or no policy.’ The group, which was set up in 1976 and is chaired by Peter Surcouf, says in its statement that the Island’s countryside is slowly being chipped away.