Wednesday 13 August 2014
The draft Island Development Plan is currently being prepared by the Department's Forward Planning Team. Following Environment Board approval in December this year it is due to be published in February 2015.
The new Island Development Plan (IDP) will contain the detailed land use planning policies which will guide and facilitate the development of the Island over the next decade, to meet the economic, social and environmental objectives of the States. In doing so, the new Plan will conform with the directions and guidance given in the Strategic Land Use Plan, approved by the States in November 2011.
The Department had previously hoped to publish the draft Plan in September, however this was a best estimate and having most recently reviewed the timescales and work required before publication it has become clear that this will not be possible. This is the first time that the Plan Review process has been carried out under the current Planning Law and there are new complex processes and procedures to follow, such as an Environmental Impact assessment of proposed policies, for which it has been difficult to assign specific timescales until now. The Department has also committed to produce a draft Plan with policies which are based on evidence of Guernsey's social, economic and environmental needs and aspirations and gathering this evidence has taken a considerable time and is ongoing, involving detailed consultation with States Departments and other interested and relevant bodies.
Environment Minister, Deputy Yvonne Burford said:
"Although we had previously estimated a September publication date, this has not proved possible given the scale of the task in hand. The February publication date reflects the amount of work being put into the preparation of the new IDP. The IDP will be one of the most significant Government documents likely to be produced this decade and we would far rather produce a good plan than a rushed plan. As the new IDP is required to last for 10 years, it has to be as good as it can possibly be.
The current Development Plans, the Rural Area Plan and the Urban Area Plan, remain relevant and allow appropriate development on Guernsey to take place. We are working closely with the Housing Department and the Commerce and Employment Department to ensure that development opportunities under the current development plans continue to be realised and that there should thus be no significant impact on the delivery of housing opportunities or on the economy of the Island as a result of the slight revision of the publication date for the new IDP."
Following publication of the draft Plan in February next year, a Planning Inquiry will be held including a public hearing in Autumn, following which the report of the independent Planning Inspector will be referred to the States of Deliberation for consideration.
Deputy Burford said that:
"The time taken for some of the processes involved in delivering the draft Plan to the States for consideration is outside of the control of the States and is difficult to predict. For example, the time taken for the Public Inquiry and Hearing is likely to be heavily influenced by the number of representations received and the complexity of those representations which will in turn influence how long the Inspector will take to deliver their report.
The Environment Department and the Policy Council have considered the options and although they would have liked the entire process to be complete within this political term, this is unfortunately not practical and given the amount of work that will have been done, including the holding of the Planning Inquiry before the elections, we will have given the next States all that it will require to reach an informed decision on the new Plan when it considers the matter."
The remaining key stages for the Plan-making process are:-
- December 2014 - final sign-off of draft Plan by Environment Board
- January 2015 - reference to the Strategic Land Planning Group for certificate of consistency with the SLUP (see section 5 of the Land Planning and Development (Plans) Ordinance, 2007).
- February 2015 - publication of draft IDP
- Planning Inquiry commences March 2015 and will include a Public Hearing in October 2015
- Preparation and submission of Inspector's report
- States consideration
The Environment Department and the Policy Council will provide more information on the draft Plan and how to engage in the consultation process later this year.
ENDS
