Removal of sport facilities 'weakens' hotel plans

An application for a hotel and conference centre near Jersey Airport has been described as "significantly weakened" without the plans for new indoor sports and leisure facilities.

The application included plans for a hotel with 155 guest rooms, a conference centre, spa treatment rooms, swimming pool and 117 parking spaces.

Previously the planned hotel, proposed by Strive Health Club, was set to include 179 bedrooms, 124 parking spaces, a spa and a swimming pool.

The Place and Spatial Planning team in the Cabinet Office said as submitted, the location made up a standalone hotel in a rural location which would require "exceptional justification to warrant support from a policy perspective".

The original planning application was refused by the States of Jersey planning committee in November after which managing director Ben Harvey said they had decided to put in "a revised application in the new year rather than an appeal".

The revised application included the removal of plans to develop "state of the art all weather training facilities".

The Cabinet Office said: "The issue here is that the Stage three facilities are not included in the application."

"It is sensible to expect that the high-quality hotel and spa would have a significant positive impact on the local economy, but the third stage appears to be critical to the overall success."

"Its removal fundamentally weakens the planning merits now advanced," it added.

The Cabinet Office added: "The original business case and masterplan relied heavily on the delivery of Stage three, involving the provision of some associated sports facilities.

"Without this wider sporting and training component, the justification for the proposal is significantly weakened and the standalone hotel lacks the strategic policy support that the full masterplan would have attracted."

It added the planning applicant would be "encouraged" to combine the current application and the original Stage three facilities so both could be considered together.

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