THE Draft Rural Area Plan is seriously flawed. Henry Lancaster, a former president of the States Electricity Board, said that if it became effective, it would worsen social divides in the island.

At the RAP planning inquiry, he also argued that it did not meet many of the States’ strategic and corporate objectives.

‘Although there is some good incorporated into the draft RAP and no doubt much earnest work has been put into it, the submission here is that it is seriously flawed,’ he said.

‘It lacks basic honesty and fairness. It does not set out a reasonable way forward for the immediate issue of planning for housing.’

He said that the Island Development Committee had fallen into the trap of trying to do too much with the RAP, in the same way it had with the new IDC law.

‘It is my submission that recommendations arising from this inquiry should not only seek to preserve this island but also to strike a much fairer balance between the interests of the haves and have-nots.’

Mr Lancaster, a States member from 1979 to 1985, said that Guernsey had a housing crisis and that housing was the key issue at the inquiry.

He questioned whether the States had agreed to the 90% and 10% split between new housing provision in the urban and rural areas.

‘That is not in the Strategic and Corporate Plan – the word majority is used there,’ he said.

‘It may become apparent, as developments and repercussions unfold, that such a loading is highly undesirable. It must not be forgotten that the urban area is only 13% of the island.’

The plan was considerably more restrictive and far-reaching than anything specified in the Strategic and Corporate Plan, he said.

‘There seems to be an assumption that the discrepancies will not be noticed, because most people don’t read and cross-reference and cross-refer documents thoroughly – including States members.’

Policies on derelict land in the countryside and protecting open land were two examples Mr Lancaster highlighted.

He was also concerned by the IDC response earlier in the inquiry that existing active permits were satisfying the island’s housing requirements.

‘The important statistic is additional house completions, where they are and who will live in them.’

Cadastre figures do not fit well with States data and a figure of over 1,000 active permits has little meaning without more information, he said.

‘Regardless of whether immediate targets are being met or not under the present plan, this does not justify making a virtually-zero new-build stipulation for the new rural plan.’

Mr Lancaster also believed there was a bias in the plan towards existing home owners, with policies allowing for conversion and improvement.

‘Clearly it wouldn’t be good if the pillars of society couldn’t develop their splendid properties, which are generally in the rural area,’ he said.

‘By contrast, the have-nots get little. If they can secure anything, they must be crammed into the urban area.’

Policies that compelled people who worked in the rural area to live in the urban were illogical, he said.

‘It does not tax the brain too much to perceive which group can best afford to live rural and which group is being guided towards living urban. This is the topsy-turvy world of Alice Through the Looking Glass.’

He said recommendations for change in the plan should lean towards deletions and a more concise one would be more likely to be revised.

IDC representative Alistair Coates said that the committee was not mandated to seek demographic change or fix house prices.

‘The outgoing IDC or incoming Environment Department will not discriminate against any individual or sector of the community or the island economy,’ he said.

The plan’s compliance with the Strategic and Corporate Plan had been endorsed by Advisory and Finance and provisions were in place to alter the RAP if required.

Mr Coates defended the housing policies and said that the issue with housing in the rural area was one of affordability.

‘The 90% figure has been endorsed by the States when it formally adopted the UAP in 2002.’

The IDC is going to provide monitoring figures to the planning inspector to show how many permissions have been completed or are under construction.