Greenhills Country Hotel

It is hugely disappointing that the above proposals appear to pay little or no recognition to the existing environmental attributes, residential properties and individual users of the area that will be affected by expanding the quarry operations in to Field MY966 – in particular is the complete disregard given to the commercial impact that it will have upon the Greenhills Country House Hotel – an AA 4 (silver) star hotel offering 33 individually styled bedrooms with a very strong, international repeat customer base, high quality dining and event management all of which is extremely popular with visitors to Jersey and local residents and has been the subject of significant, multi-million pound investment in recent years.

The present quarry operations are approximately 425 metres to the north of Greenhills and the proposals will bring those operations to within 225 metres of the Hotel. Please refer to below image taken from Google Maps. Whilst it is acknowledged that an environmental impact assessment will be required in order to further the proposals it is shameful, even discreditable, that an economic impact assessment is not similarly required as part of this process. The Draft Bridging Island Plan is a strategic document for Jersey and as such any recommendations should not be taken in isolation but also take account of any and all impact upon other areas of Island life and the Island economy. If there is a proven strategic need to continue to extract minerals from within the Island then this should be balanced against the strategic needs of other sectors of the economy including all environmental, social and financial benefits. An economic impact assessment is needed to carefully scrutinize the financial analyses that have been supplied and carried out in relation to either supporting the continued extraction of minerals in the Island or the importation thereof, as well as the economic impact that the closer operations of the quarry will have upon the sustainable economic future of the Greenhills Country House Hotel and the potentially discounted values of residential properties located in the vicinity.

Visitors to the Island choose the Greenhills Country House Hotel as they are attracted by the peace and tranquility offered by its location deep in Jersey’s countryside where people are able to enjoy gentle walks and bicycle rides in the surrounding lanes as well as the enjoyment provided by the scenery and wildlife living in the varied vegetation, mature woodlands, hedgerows and fertile fields that border the quarry to the south. Tourism matters! A fundamental question needs to be asked – Is the expansion of the quarry more important than the continued operation of a long standing, successful locally owned hotel?

It is clear that the rush to include proposals for the expansion of the quarry in the Bridging Island Plan has wholly ignored the issues and circumstances of other property owners, businesses and the multitude of leisure users to the area – it would be sensible at this particular stage, especially as the reserves at the quarry are sufficient for some years yet, to remove these proposals from the Bridging Island Plan so that their intent can be properly scrutinized and more fully assessed in light of all factors involved.

It should also be noted that concerns to these proposals were first brought to the attention of the Planning Department on 24th February 2020 in response to the ‘Call for Sites’ consultation – unfortunately the portal that was set up to receive submissions was not able to accept our format so it was sent separately and receipt acknowledged by the Department on 25th February 2020. Our objection was made apparent at that time and remains so today.