Doubts over urgency of 2008 rezoning

Friday 24th September 2010, 2:58PM BST.

The Longueville Nurseries site was proposed for housing but after objections from the parish, Environment Minister Freddie Cohen is not supporting it

TWO years after the States rezoned 58 vergées of land for homes for the over-55s, Planning Minister Freddie Cohen has questioned whether the need was as urgent as believed.

It was the Planning Department which took the proposition to the States in 2008 when the then Housing Minister Terry Le Main said there was an essential and urgent need for affordable retirement homes, which were not specifically for individual parishes.

Senator Cohen said: ‘The rezoning was not a mistake, but I am questioning whether the need was that urgent. On reflection, it may have been better to have taken the political flak for non-delivery of these homes for the elderly and incorporated them in the Island Plan instead.’

However, Senator Le Main has defended his own role in pushing successfully for the States to rezone that land in seven parishes, and said he is surprised about the Planning Minister’s comments.

1
Paul

September 24, 2010 at 3:10 pm

And I bet Dep Labey agrees with Sen Cohen about the re-zoning process in Grouville!

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2
Planet Reality

September 24, 2010 at 3:49 pm

Is anyone else totally confused by land which is zoned at one point in time only to be re-zoned at another point in time… why zone anything in the first place? sorry am I missing something here?
I’m not your classic NIMBY but I live a very heavily built up area of St Saviour and the only bit of greenery (which was greenzone) is three fields behind the parish hall but at the drop of a hat this has been passed by Freddie (Nightmare on any street) Cohen to be developed when the old Dairy site sat ruined for years…what a joke!
Oh hang on Dandara are now developing both silly me…

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3
Nellie Macon

September 24, 2010 at 4:22 pm

Very interesting – the Establishment party are hanging Senator Le Main out to dry……they obviously don’t want him re-elected next year.

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4
small money

September 24, 2010 at 5:34 pm

terry was quite right with the need for these homes.
if this was social rented housing, for the over 55′s, then the land must only have this built on it , and not overpriced un affordable housing.

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5
Cathy

September 24, 2010 at 8:07 pm

Then Cohen should resign for not dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s at the beginning of the process. A good leader will always double check the facts and not be lead by the nose!

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6
Pip Clement

September 24, 2010 at 9:05 pm

“Very interesting – the Establishment party are hanging Senator Le Main out to dry……they obviously don’t want him re-elected next year.”

I think it is worse than that. His chums have decided that he is expendable. They are setting him up to draw fire in 2011. If he stands he could lose badly while they hope that the voters will ignore their sins and vote for them.

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7
Overpopulated

September 25, 2010 at 7:46 am

The only people I have met who want to downsize do so because they cannot afford to live in their current house. People who can afford not to sell do not do so

I have met a couple of people with modest sized homes who are trying to sell but have no potential buyers come to see the property.

We need a total stop to all building until the recession eases, how many properties that have been built recently have been sold to investors from the UK and elsewhere? This just enriches Dandara and it low paid work force and is of no benefit to locals whatsoever.

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8
Pip Clement

September 27, 2010 at 2:14 pm

I know a few people who ‘outsized’ before 2007. They sold their Jersey property that they had lived in for many years, invested several hundred thousand in long dated gilts and bought a lot cheaper property elsewhere with the balance.

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