‘We have had problems with rats, noise and dust for years’
RATS, noise and dust coming from a storage yard in Petites Capelles Road have been a problem for years, say neighbours who are concerned that the issues are likely to continue, despite the rejection of plans for the site’s expansion.
Objections to the latest plans came from several residents of the area, including a man and his wife who live at Devonia Court.
Another issue was how work on the site took place even at times when it was not supposed to be allowed, said the man, who asked not to be named.
Despite work not being approved for Saturday afternoons, Sundays or bank holidays, he said this limit was often ignored and while work was not meant to start before 7am, people were usually on site from 6am most days of the week.
He thought such restrictions should be enforced.
‘There’s no point making rules if nobody is going to enforce them,’ said the neighbour.
When the couple moved in they were told by the developers that the site, then used by a nearby vinery for parking lorries, was going to be turned into housing, but that did not happen.
‘It ended up being used as a fly-tipping site and people were lighting bonfires on it. Once I called the fire service after someone set fire to a pile of tyres.’
Since then the site has been leased to a scaffolding company.
The dust has been a problem for neighbours, as has the noise.
‘They have this massive forklift and you can feel the vibrations sitting in our lounge,’ he said.
‘And we get rats all the time. I have pictures on my phone of them climbing up the bird table.
‘One ran over my wife’s foot while we were sitting in the garden last summer. She was not happy about it.’
Although concerned that these problems will not stop, the man said he was pleased the application had been turned down.
‘This is the first time ever that the planners have listened to
us.’
Petites Capelles Road resident Rob Gill, who has lived there for 23 years, said he was mainly affected by the dust and dirt in the road outside his home.
He first objected to activities on the site in 2000, when it was used for bin lorries.
‘They would set off at 11 o’clock at night and then come back to refuel,’ he said.
Mr Gill also objected when he found out that so-called grandfather rights – allowing a long-standing development to remain even without permission if it has been there for 10 years – had been granted to the site’s owner even though only four years had passed.
‘It’s in the wrong place,’ he said.
‘It’s in a residential area.’
n The Guernsey Press has attempted to contact the landowner’s agent, and the company that leases the site.
