Message from the Connétable

Dear Parishioners,

I would like to address recent comments and concerns regarding planning application P/2021/0937 approved in 2021 for the change of use of agricultural land to create petanque amenity area to North of Parish Yard.

I have been quite open about my objection to this site being used for any other purpose than it already is and therefore, after careful consideration I have decided not to proceed with the renewal of this application.

It is a commercial site, accessed by delivery vans and customers of the Master Farms ‘Hedge Veg’ stall, lorries, road sweepers, tractors and trailers, potato harvesters, JCBs, muck spreaders, diggers and other commercial vehicles. As a result, the site would not be suitable for any other activity, especially one that may involve young children being present.

It is also used as the base for the Grouville Battle of Flowers and is especially busy in the first two weeks of August. At this time at least three marquees occupy this area to keep the flowers out of the sun and protected from the elements.

As our Parish Depot it is also used as a site to dispose of storm damaged trees and walls, etc proving it to be totally unsuitable for leisure activities. We have such materials on site now in fact.

The parking proposed for this site by the application also asked parishioners to spend £80K + in creating spaces for less than 20 cars.

During Battle week there are up to 50 cars on site and if we had a restricted number of spaces, parking on Rue de Grouville would not be suitable for parking along this section. This would put off our marvellous volunteers and restrict their attendance.

I understand that transparency is crucial, and I want to be more open with parishioners about the decisions made. I hope that this clears any misunderstanding regarding the decision to not renew planning application P/2021/0937.

Kindest Regards

Mark Labey – Connétable