STATES OF JERSEY
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Howard Davis Farm, Trinity: part of Fields 562, 827 and 828 – sale of land
Lodged au Greffe on 5th June 2006
by the Minister for Treasury and Resources
STATES GREFFE
PROPOSITION
THE STATES
are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -
(a) to authorise on behalf of the Public the
sale of approximately 7½ vergées (13,246 square metres) of land, part of
Field 562, 827 and 828 Trinity (as shown on Drawing No. 845/06/98) to the
Jersey Milk Marketing Board, or its nominated holding company, for £750,000
(seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds) with each party responsible for their
own legal fees, for the purpose of constructing a two-storey commercial milk
processing and milk product manufacturing dairy unit of approximately 26,500 square
feet, together with offices, vehicle parking and associated landscaping as
approved by the Minister for Planning and Environment on 25th May 2006;
(b) to agree that the contract of sale will
include such conditions as are necessary to enable the States on behalf of the
Public to be given first option of re-purchasing the land, as described in
paragraph (a) above and shown on Drawing No 845/06/98, together with any
buildings thereon, from the Jersey Milk Marketing Board or its successors, at
market value, should the commercial dairy and associated uses cease in the
future;
(c) to authorise the Attorney General and
the Greffier of the States to pass on behalf of the Public any contracts which
might be found necessary to pass in connection with the said land and any
interest therein; and
(d) to authorise the Treasurer of the States
to receive any payment in connection with the sale of the said land and any
interest therein, to be retained in a separate interest-bearing account until
such time as a fund is established for the purposes of promoting training and
research in respect of agriculture in Jersey or other countries or territories.
MINISTER FOR TREASURY AND RESOURCES
REPORT
Introduction
Parkfield, Trinity, (later to be named Howard Davis Farm)
amounting to the house, farm buildings and 40 vergées of land, was gifted
to the Public of the Island by the late Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis and
accepted by the Act of the States in November 1927 and the Deed of Gift passed
before the Royal Court on 17th December 1927. A covenant attached to the
gifting imposed certain conditions as to the use of the land and buildings. It
was one of 4 separate corpus-fundi transferred by Mr. Davis to the Public
of the Island in perpetuity and gifted for the purpose of establishing there,
under the administration of the Committee of Agriculture of the States, an
experimental farm for developing the study of agriculture and for instructing
in that science young people and other interested parties.
In recent years, a very small percentage of the
activities at Howard Davis Farm have actually fallen within the uses permitted
under the terms of this covenant with alternative options and facilities being
found for research and training as the agricultural industry has evolved. The
States are being asked in a separate proposition to adopt a law abrogating the
covenants which would permit other uses and the sale of the land and buildings
at Howard Davis Farm. This proposition is therefore brought forward subject to
the proviso that the States must firstly adopt the Draft Howard Davis Farm
(Removal of Covenant) (Jersey) Law 200- (P.65/2006), which removes the covenant
limiting the use of Howard Davis Farm to that of an experimental centre for the
development and study of agriculture and for the instruction of young people
and other interested parties in the science of agriculture.
Background
In common with other businesses in the Island, the
Jersey Milk Marketing Board has faced difficult financial times over the last
few years and has had to make commercial decisions to ensure its future. Its
current dairy at Five Oaks is over 40 years old and is in many ways
difficult to operate with separated ageing buildings and inefficient product
handling operations. The choice that the Jersey Milk Marketing Board has to
make is either to build a new plant on the existing site or relocate to a new
site. Building on its existing site and keeping the milk processing facility
operational would be totally impractical.
The Five Oaks site is believed to be a valuable
commercial one with re-development potential for alternate uses. The sale of the site would
provide Jersey Dairy with much-needed capital to re-invest in a modern plant
for the efficient processing of milk products in the future.
Its close links with the Jersey cattle breed and the
Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society (RJA&HS) has prompted
interest in re-locating to an adjacent site at Howard Davis Farm. It is
believed that there are considerable benefits for the two buildings to become
the focal point of the dairy industry in terms of administration, marketing,
promotion and milk processing. It would also provide the opportunity for
interested members of the community and tourists to visit and learn about the
Jersey breed, milk production and milk processing in one location.
The Site
The most suitable site for the new Dairy, as shown on
drawing No. 845/06/98, is adjacent to the RJA&HS and on an area of
land which is located within that designated by the Island Plan 2002 as the
‘Built-up Area’. This currently contains the more southerly glasshouses and
poly-tunnels, the majority of which are ageing and unused. The proposed site,
which is mostly in part of Field 562, includes a small area of the land,
originally part of Field 828, which was purchased with Le Rondin Farm,
Trinity, in July 1986. The site is level and separated by some distance from
other residential property in the area. Although away from the main road, the
site is easily accessed via the existing driveway over which the purchaser
would be given right of way for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The strip of
land included in the proposed sale adjacent to the south of Field 827 is
to allow a new roadway and services to be brought to the proposed dairy without
the need to alter the existing driveway. It will also provide land for a
pathway and appropriate landscaping.
The proposal is for the construction of a two-storey
framed building of approximately 26,000 square feet to accommodate all of
the milk processing plant and packaging equipment under one roof with loading
and unloading facilities provided on each side for improved handling. The
development includes associated offices, plant and landscaping. The site will
be linked to main drainage at the southern end of the site, although Transport
and Technical Services engineers have indicated that, based on the output at
Five Oaks, the existing pumping station is likely to need upgrading to meet the
increased drainage requirement. Noise levels from a modern plant, in an
efficiently insulated building surrounded by appropriate landscaping, is not
expected to be high. It is also anticipated that because of more efficient
practice, commercial vehicle movements to and from the Dairy will be less than
that which has existed at Five Oaks in recent years. Geographically, the site
is more central to milk collection from the producers.
An environmental impact assessment has concluded that
there are no difficulties which cannot be overcome in the design of the new facility
with modern equipment. A new modern commercial dairy, apart from being much
more efficient, will considerably reduce the risk of pollution in terms of
noise, smell and water effluent, and will optimise the use of natural
resources, especially water usage and energy requirements.
Having received the support of the Economic
Development Committee for its proposals in March 2004, the Jersey Milk
Marketing Board submitted its first application to the Planning and Environment
Committee in June 2005. No decision was made at that time pending the
production of an environmental assessment and required changes to the proposed
building. Approval for the proposed commercial dairy was given by the Minister
for Planning and Environment on 25th May 2006
Negotiation
The professional valuation of this particular area of
land, which amounts to approximately 7½ vergées (13,246 square metres) in
part of Field 562, Trinity, has been based on its designation in the
Island Plan 2002 as a ‘built-up’ area, the development advice for acceptable
alternative uses prepared by the Department of Planning and Environment and its
current use as a commercial site. It has also assumed the lifting of any
covenant on the site which would otherwise restrict any use other than those
permitted in the original 1927 Deed of Gift.
In determining value, account has also been taken of
the need for the developer responsibility to clear the site of the existing
structures, the relocation of existing re-useable glasshouse equipment and
plant, the cost of the proposed infrastructure, including new sewers, effluent
treatment, upgrading of the pumping station, electrical, water and other
services which are required to operate the new dairy.
The site includes the small building which houses the
animal crematorium, built and operated on land in the public ownership by the
Animal Shelter and the Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Preliminary discussions have taken place between officers of Property Holdings,
Transport and Technical Services and the Society in respect of the re-location
of that facility to another site in the public ownership within the next
12 months. Plans are currently being prepared for consideration by the
Society. It is not anticipated that it will have to meet any costs associated
with the re-location unless there is a requirement for equipment which is over
and above the general specification of that which is currently operated.
Similarly, an area of existing glasshouse operated as part of the Philip
Mourant Education Centre will be relocated elsewhere on the Howard Davis Farm
site if proven future use is still required.
Following several months of negotiation, agreement has
been reached, subject to the approval of the States, for the purchase of the
land by the Jersey Milk Marketing Board, or its nominated holding company, from
the Public for £750,000 (seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds) for the
purpose of constructing on the site a commercial dairy or similar operation,
with associated offices, vehicle parking and other required facilities. Each
party will be responsible for their own legal fees associated with the
transaction. Conditions will be included in the contract of sale to enable the
States on behalf of the Public to be given first option of re-purchasing the
land at market value should the commercial dairy use cease in the future. Any
receipts from the sale of the land included within the original 1927 Deed of
Gift will be held by the Treasurer of the States to be used for future
charitable projects within the spirit of the original T.B. Davis gift and
in accordance with the separate approval by the States of the law abrogating
the covenant.
The purchase of a suitable alternative site on which
to construct a replacement, modern and more efficient commercial dairy is
extremely important for the future of the Jersey Milk Marketing Board, the milk
producers and the consumer. The choice of an appropriate and suitable site is
extremely limited bearing in mind the environmental and technical requirements
which need to be complied with for a food production and handling facility of
this type. The decision to relocate from the existing site at Five Oaks is
based on sound management decisions, both practical and financial, to ensure
the viability of the dairy industry in the Island. The purchase of this
particular site at Howard Davis Farm by the Jersey Milk Marketing Board at a
fair but fully commercial open market value and the cost of developing an
efficient and modern dairy will be met from the eventual sale of the existing
Five Oaks premises.
The identified site at Howard Davis Farm is no longer
used operationally and it has accrued little in the way of income over the last
few years from the leasing of the elderly glasshouses and tunnels for which
there is little demand. Its location meets the requirements of the Jersey Milk
Marketing Board in terms of available site area, environmental impact, main
road access, acceptable isolation from residential property, availability of
services and being adjacent to the RJA&HS.
There are no additional manpower implications
associated with this proposed land transaction.
