PLANS for a new car park with electric chargers and a bike store at a 17th century farmstead have been approved.
Morel Farm – which is owned by the National Trust for Jersey – is close to reopening as a collection of holiday lets.
The trust previously successfully bid for £2.16m of fiscal stimulus money to create three units of self-catered accommodation, one of which will be the four-bedroom main house.
The organisation submitted a separate application to create a new parking area next to the existing entrance off Rue Rouge Cul, to the north of the existing walled garden.
The surface will not be paved but will feature matting which allows grass to grow through it. There will also be low-level bollard lighting and a granite cobbled threshold at the gated entrance.
There were four public comments submitted about the plans, all voicing degrees of concern, including a claim that the parking area was too big for the number of residents expected to stay at the farm.
In approving the ‘minor’ application, the Planning Department said: ‘On balance, the department is satisfied that the proposed development will result in a net improvement to the character and setting of the listed building group, while making for a more pleasant environment in which to stay.
‘The detail of the parking area, the entrance threshold, and the other incidental structures, is all considered to be acceptable.’
This week, the trust was criticised by the Island’s charity commissioner for selling another of its properties, La Ronce in St Ouen, privately and not advertising it on the open market.
