However, Bernie Manning said that he was not completely satisfied with the plans and would have liked to have seen fewer or no new houses built there instead.
Andium Homes, which bought the 9,100-sq-metre site last year, said it wanted to replace the previously passed scheme, submitted by Brookfield Tunnell Street Holdings – to build about 250 homes on the site – with a much smaller development and extend the park.
The new proposed development on the former Gas Place site would extend the Town Park by around 50 per cent and see 110 homes built and possibly a 200-space underground car park.
Mr Manning, chairman of the Friends of the Millennium Town Park, said that he was pleased the project had received overwhelming support from the States but the current plans were a compromise.
He said: ‘I would prefer the whole area to be a park but I think this is a step in the right direction.
‘I was surprised how two people voted against it. I was more surprised about how Reform initially sounded as if they were going to vote against but they voted for it in the end.’
Despite Mr Manning giving his approval, the chairman did express concerns over the population density in the area after future developments had been completed.
He said: ‘I think the area is too built up already and it will get worse, especially with the old Play.com warehouse, Ann Court, Le Bas Centre and brewery site – it is going to be a very densely populated place.’
However, Housing Minister Anne Pryke praised Andium for ‘seizing the initiative’ and launching plans that would regenerate the north of town.
She said: ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure regeneration in that part of town.
‘With all Andium Homes’ other developments in the area this is an opportunity to think differently, to think outside the box and take a holistic approach to regenerating the north of town.’
Andium already has plans to create an additional 600 homes on other sites in the area, including Robin Hood, Convent Court, Ann Court, Ann Street Brewery and the Ann Street Boiler House.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft said: ‘I am of course supportive of this proposition because it delivers what I and other Members have been struggling to achieve for many years.’
The proposal is still subject to a public consultation and any plan to create underground car parking would require planning permission.
Ministers hope that the scheme will be completed by 2023.
The proposal was passed by 33 votes to two, with Senator Sarah Ferguson and St Martin Constable Michel Le Troquer voting against the proposals.
