Jurats and advocates for the Environment Department and appellants John and Suzanne Seymour on the Tertre Lane site yesterday. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0928961)

A COUPLE who were refused permission to build three houses in a field opposite their home challenged the decision in the Royal Court yesterday.

The Environment Department rejected John and Suzanne Seymour’s application to build the homes, all for family members, in Tertre Lane, Vale.

For the Seymours, Advocate Peter Ferbrache said the department had shown abject inconsistency in dealing with the application.

His clients had lived in the lane for many years, during which time the character of it had changed and it had become a more urban area.

Advocate Ferbrache said when the Urban Area Plan had been approved, the States had chosen not to make the field an area of landscape value.  It was part of a settlement area, which allowed for a concentration of urban facilities, and was well sited in relation to public amenities.

For the department, Crown Advocate Rupert Sewards said its role was one of planning and not cramming.

Not all land within a settlement area was suitable for development and the characteristics of the site and its relationship with the surrounding area also had to be considered.

The case continues today.

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