The Development & Planning Authority has already consulted with the douzaines on the proposals, which are part of a crackdown on anti-social use of land.
‘The Development & Planning Authority is considering approaching the States with a policy letter in respect of preparing an Ordinance under section 46 of the Land Planning & Development (Guernsey) Law, 2005, in an attempt to provide it with the necessary power to address instances where the use of land or dereliction of existing structures or sites causes significant impairment of amenity,’ Planning Services confirmed in a statement.
‘For context purposes, a well-known relevant example would be the dumping of cars on a property at Les Blicqs in St Andrew’s, which is an obvious blight on an attractive rural area which cannot be tackled through current planning enforcement powers.’
Contact has been made with the douzaines requesting their views on the matter.
St Andrew’s senior constable Martin Thwaite said it was something they had supported in principle.
‘It is fairly high level but it would seem at the moment that the law is a bit toothless,’ he said.
There are issues with derelict greenhouses and sites where lots of cars are abandoned.
‘Our parishioners are always drawing this sort of thing to our attention,’ he said.
‘It sometimes seems that the authorities don’t have the powers to deal with them and it slips through bits of the legislation.’
Castel senior constable John Cook said his douzaine also supported the plans in principle.
‘Our particular concern is the use of coastal car parks for private vehicle sales.
‘With respect to the resourcing implications, we wonder if it is worth considering devolving certain additional responsibilities to the douzaines to assist with this.’
‘We are offering our assistance in this respect if such an arrangement would be beneficial.’
Forest senior constable Andrew Niles added:
‘We met with them, together with the other constables, and it was felt that it was a relatively good idea,’
‘We don’t have that many unsightly structures or reports of abandoned vehicles in the parish, but we get them from time to time and have to deal with them.
‘One of the things that was slightly contentious was that it could be used to demolish greenhouses that have been left in a state of decline, in the [owner’s] wishful hope that this law may effectively be used to remove them.’
The DPA will be considering the responses shortly, in order to help determine whether a policy letter will be drafted.
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