Land owner tells court he left van on field only on high tides
FLOUTING two compliance notices by having boats and vehicles on a St Peter’s agricultural field resulted in a £400 fine for Colin Bourgaize.
The planners were concerned about how Mr Bourgaize was using the field in Rue des Marais, close to Rocquaine.
But the 61-year-old, of Rock View, Route de la Rocque Poisson, St Peter’s, pleaded not guilty to two charges of failing to comply with the notices.
The planners became aware of the site after concerns were raised in 2004 over a track going over the field. They had revisited the site regularly and the track disappeared. But when they visited in 2016 it was noted there were a number of items there, including a ride-on mower, a canoe and vehicles.
A compliance notice was issued at the start of 2017 to have all the items removed from that part of the field, except for a one boat, which could be overwintered.
In the Magistrate’s Court, planning enforcement officer David Perrio said traditionally the department did not take action if someone was over-wintering a boat on their land between October and April, as it was a historic right, although there was no basis for this in law.
When he revisited the site one vessel was removed, but another two remained. In May, the part of the field highlighted on the compliance notice was clear of items, but some of the items had been moved to another part of the field.
So another notice was imposed, with greater powers, with the hope of tackling the problem on a more permanent basis.
‘We expanded the notice to cover the whole site this time,’ Mr Perrio said.
He returned to check the site in August and found that a van and boat had been removed, but another van and the hull of another boat were now on the land, which breached the new notice. Visits again in September and October found the boat hull was gone, but the van remained.
Mr Bourgaize said he had parked his van on the site when there were spring tides. His home is close to the west coast and when the sea came over the wall he could find it difficult to access his driveway.
He produced tide tables for the court, which showed that on the dates his van was on the land, the high tide was more than 9m.
Mr Bourgaize argued that he should be allowed to still park a vehicle on the site at times, but Mr Perrio said the second compliance notice meant no one could park on the land.
‘We had to take a stand at that point,’ he said.
Mr Bourgaize said originally he had been unable to get the van out due to the boggy nature of the field, but that it had now been dumped.
Currently, he said there was only a boat on the field which was being over-wintered.
Judge Russell Finch said the wording of the notices was clear, and found him guilty on both counts.
But after taking into account Mr Bourgaize’s circumstances, he halved the normal fine, imposing a £400 penalty on the first count and making no order on the second.
