An extra acre would be the business…
Wednesday 5th August 2009, 2:00PM BST.
MORE industrial land is vital, according to Guernsey Building Trades Employers’ Association president Mark Palfrey.
He welcomed the news that Belgrave Vinery could expand to allow more small workshops and yards and that some agricultural sites could be changed to industrial use.
‘There has been a struggle to find good trading sites on the island,’ said Mr Palfrey.
‘Some businesses do bend the law and trade where they can because there is nowhere for them to use.’
With the closure of Leale’s Yard, Mr Palfrey said that the demand for industrial land now far outstripped supply in the island.
‘Much of the light-industrial land is taken up by archive storage and emergency sites for the finance industry,’ he said.
‘This has left only a limited choice for local businesses.’
He said islanders should not fear sites being developed and left empty.
‘Sites will only be built if tenants are already lined up.’
The Environment Department wants to amend the Urban Area Plan to allow an extra acre to the south of Belgrave Vinery to be used temporarily for industrial purposes.
And it is also targeting sites in the rural area for industrial uses such as workshops and yards including land beside Les Caches Business Centre and Les Vardes Farm at Port Grat.
Its latest proposals recognise that ‘it is important to focus industrial development on a few sites rather than turning to greenfield land’.
Existing industrial properties could be allowed limited boundary expansions rather than having to move to new sites.
nÊA planning inquiry into the proposed changes will take place on 4 November at Les Cotils.
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No point in just making space available by zoning – it has to be affordable space. A packing shed here, a greenhouse there. Environment is trying to zone lumps of space, but look at what happened to the Saltpans – speculators bought it up in the hope of more bank archive and disaster suites. Many small businesses cannot afford to pay £20 per sq. ft. or cannot find small enough premises for their operations. Once sites have been “developed” for industry, industry can’t afford them.
Environment’s policy often makes it harder, rather than easier, and almost guarantees future problems. If they cared about these businesses, why did they give the nod to Leale’s yard development for housing and retail, when clearly much of the proposed development is not required?
Had it not been for the one-man-band businesses that have started out working from home and employing one or two before taking on “industrial” premises, the island would have little in the way of support services or small businesses.
Allow people to start-up before burdening them with the need for commercial premises and high rents.
There are many empty premises available for the larger businesses already – SSL/Jones Bradburn for instance, and the Press were looking to let industrial space and offices above – that’s more than half of the available space on the Braye Road for a start.
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We have known about the impending problem of rehousing the Leale’s Yard businesses, and other small light industries for a long time and yet it does not seem to feature in any long term planning. Longue Hougue should have been the ideal location for many of these businesses. The States have been staggeringly short sighted to give the whole area over to a French company to house one waste solution. We are a small island with a very limited land space, and yet we are appalling at protecting what little space we have. We have merrily urbanised virtually the whole island and no doubt will continue to do so.
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