TO ALL WHO HELPED – THANK YOU!
SOSJersey have today lodged a formal complaint to the Planning Minister regarding the ‘out of permitted hours’ clearance works by the SoJDC which breached the planning condition which the JDC were bound by. The condition stated that works using heavy machinery and chainsaws could not be carried out on Saturday afternoon or all day Sunday. BUT…! Read on…
In a recent letter sent to all States Members, the Principal Planner, writing as instructed by the Planning Minister, said, “We have no direct evidence as to which hours were / were not worked, but if the removal of the trees and shrubs took place outside of the specified hours of working as set out in the planning conditions, this could be regarded as a breach of condition.”
So we asked you for your help and many of you responded. We are now able send a complaint and a witness file to the Planning Minister and letter to all States Members. We would like to thank those who took the time to send in their statements and photos.
It’s not all about the loss of the trees, it runs deeper and is symptomatic of Jersey’s ongoing problem of dislocation between government and the public.
The situation is perhaps best summed up by Ben Shenton, who wrote in the JEP last Saturday in an article on the International Finance Centre Development : “The States pass laws and public bodies seem to believe that they apply to everyone else but them.”
Our letter to the Planning Minister is here: Esplanade Development – Letter to Planning Minister March 2015 (PDF)
Our letters to all States Members can be downloaded from this address: Esplanade Development – Letter to States Members March 2015 (PDF)
Some of the witness statements you sent in have been amalgamated and are viewable here: Esplanade development witness reports March 2015 (PDF)