A major new development of 169 homes in St Helier has been given the go-ahead after Ogier Planning lawyer Claire Smith won an appeal against a decision by a panel of politicians to turn down the scheme.

The scheme – to build the residential units, four commercial units, a community facility and almost 200 parking spaces on the former BOA Warehouse site in the north of St Helier – already had the backing of the Planning department and the St Helier Roads Committee before the Planning Applications Panel turned it down.

But after the appeal process saw an independent report praise the 'intelligent design' and describe the change to the area as 'positive and desirable', Environment Minister Steve Luce allowed the appeal in full and granted Planning permission.

Claire, a specialist Planning and Construction lawyer who represented Castle Properties (Jersey) Limited during the appeal process, said: "This is an important decision, and demonstrates the strength of the statutory appeal process.

"The conclusions of the Independent Inspector, who visited the site twice and who met with local residents, are clear.

"He found that the listed buildings on the site would be preserved and in some cases enhanced, and that there was no parking or traffic-related reason to stop the scheme from going ahead, and crucially, that the overall density was not excessive."

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