From Rosemary Mesch.
THE revised design statement for the development of three houses on the site of Camellia Cottage at Gorey sets out the architectural inspiration for the design.

These are Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, Taddeo Ando’s Rokko housing project in Tokyo and Giancarlo de Carlo’s 1950s work in Italy. After reading all this I could not help thinking that it would have been more appropriate if the designer had looked for inspiration from the other houses in the street.

Camellia Cottage currently forms the western end of a very harmonious mixture of terraced and detached dwellings which together form a slightly curved and very attractive streetscape that leads gently up Gouray Hill.

I fail to see that either the hanging gardens of Babylon, the Rokko housing project, a high-density urban Japanese development, or 1950s Italian hill towns have any relevance whatever to Gouray Hill. And it is my belief that the proposed tall, angular, glass boxes – which to give the architect credit – would probably be wonderful in an appropriate situation, have no place on this site. Here they are out of scale and context.

The architect’s design is particularly disappointing in view of the fact that the developer, Antler Homes, has in the past been responsible for a Jersey development in a similar situation – the continuation of a terrace – which was treated in a very sympathetic and satisfactory manner.

In the Island Plan Camellia Cottage is designated as green backdrop zone and currently the site is two thirds green backdrop. The proposed houses, much taller than the existing cottage, will fill the whole site with building. The green backdrop will cease to be the dominating feature of the site which is contrary to policy set out in the Island Plan.

The developer’s justification for filling the site with building is that it is necessary to recoup the expense of stabilising the cliff at the rear. It is to be hoped that when making its decision, Planning will take into account the fact that financial considerations are not a planning matter and reject the whole scheme as it stands out of hand.