If there's one thing that the Government of Jersey are better at than us here in #Guernsey, and something I think should be applauded, it's their willingness to commission reviews of key services- even where the results may make for difficult reading.
Multiple reports over recent years have have exposed that Jersey's Planning Department is underperforming and in need of radical improvement, with the most recent report highlighting that refusal rates have ballooned to almost one in four applications.
And while the States of Guernsey Development & Planning Authority seems to be maintaining a far lower refusal rate (although this is difficult to quantify given its recent decision to end the publication of performance statistics), that isn't to say that the system as a whole is performing as well as it could and should be.
Part of last Friday's Bailiwick Express coverage of the latest Jersey report caught my eye in particular, and from my experience could apply equally well to Guernsey's planning system:
“One architect commented that planners no longer plan – they react, seek more information/further studies and fail to challenge the views of consultees. The process of loading documents and plans on to the Portal was extremely cumbersome. Unlike Building Standards where It was possible to make a phone call to an officer who would endeavour to resolve an issue, that type of relationship was not possible with planning officers.”
Reflecting on the comments, Mr McKinnon noted: “In Jersey, personal contacts and relationships matter; it's the Jersey way. That should not be interpreted as a critical or pejorative comment. More and more organisations operate in a way whereby systems and processes take precedence over speaking to people at a front desk, over the phone or on site. It can be quite a challenge, not least in the age of social media, to secure effective inter-personal working relationships as these might be interpreted by some as improper or lacking impartiality. It is, however, this personal approach that has to be fostered in Jersey and the professionalism of staff can be relied on to achieve this.”
Given the similarities between the two island planning systems, to my mind it would be remiss of the DPA not to consider what learning points and insight it could draw from Jersey's experience and unflinching self-reflection.
Collas Crill #planning #development #realestate #weareoffshorelaw
Westminster Asset Management / Age Concern Jersey / JSPCA / Weekly commentator Jersey Evening Post
6moThree changes to required: 1. The 50% refund of the planning application fee if the application is refused should be adhered to. It was a key principle when fees were introduced in the late 1990's. I don't know when it was removed. Incidentally when fees were introduced a large proportion had to be spent on the environment - that's how they sold it to the politicians of the day. 2. I don't like copying the UK but the following should be introduced - tailored to Jersey. "According to the 2012 UK Regulations, planning fees shall be refunded if a planning authority fails to determine an application within 26 weeks of the date on which it receives a valid application. 3. At planning meetings the applicant should be given more time to put their point across. At the last one I attended those against the application (the planning department) had the floor for around 75% of the time of the determination. The applicant was not, in my opinion, given a fair hearing or allowed to counter some of the falsehoods raised. And finally please introduce common sense and get rid of worthless tick-box costly reports that no one reads. That should fix it.