The area of land outside the empty Grandes Rocques Bistro has become so full of cars that locals are worried that fire engines and ambulances would not be able to gain access during an emergency
The Guernsey Press found that six of the cars in the unofficial car park in the dunes across the road from the beach either had out of date insurance discs or none at all.
One blue Hyundai had obviously not been moved for some time and has a pile of dilapidated furniture next to it.
Local resident Max Dorfner said that in the past weeks, sewage lorries had not been able to reach his house.
‘The blue Hyundai has been here well over three years, if you tried to move it it would fall apart,’ he said.
‘People are starting to fly tip around it. And that’s just going to happen more and more until something is done.’
Mr Dorfner believes the area of sandy dune land was in the ownership of the crown. ‘When we moved in 18 years ago we had to apply to the crown authorities to get right of way,’ he said, ‘which must mean they own it.’
He said he had complained to the Crown Officers, Environment Committee and the Development & Planning Authority.
‘But no one takes responsibility,’ he said. ‘They just pass the buck to someone else.’
The Bistro has been empty for around five years. It was bought by the Nussbaumer family, which also owns the nearby Cobo Bay Hotel, in November 2021 for £500,000. It is currently back on the market for £675,000 and is described as having ‘ample public parking’.
Mr Dorfner said that he believed that most of the cars came from the Wayside Cheer Hotel that since 2024 had provided key worker accommodation for the States.
‘The parking problem went downhill after the hotel switched use, and by 6pm it is chocka in here,’ he said. ‘It will only get worse if they get planning to change the ballroom into six more bedrooms.’
However the manager of the Wayside, Wael Ahmed, said it also wanted to see the abandoned cars moved.
‘I know the owner has had the authorities out to point out the abandoned cars but that was some time ago and they are still here,’ he said. ‘Something needs to be done as it would be hard for the emergency services to get in if there was a problem.’
Tobin Cook, director of Environmental Health and Pollution Regulation, said the actual ownership of the land was unclear.
‘Environment & Infrastructure has previously been advised that, although dune land in Guernsey is historically most likely to be Crown land, the driveway inland from Rue de la Saline is not owned by the States, and that while the Crown may potentially have an interest in it, this is not proven,’ he said.
He added that with regard to the fly tipping it was an offence to illegally deposit waste.
‘We can investigate fly-tipped waste and take action where the responsible party can be identified, otherwise it is the responsibility of the landowner,’ he said.
‘In this instance, we have contacted the registered owners of several vehicles, however, because the land ownership is unclear, we are unable to ask for a landowner to intervene. Following our contact, one vehicle has been removed, but in this type of situation, we could only escalate matters if we felt it presented a risk of pollution, which currently doesn’t appear to be the case.’
Police said that there were procedures in place that could lead to the removal of a vehicle that appeared to have been abandoned.
‘In most circumstances, a landowner can write to Driver and Vehicle Licensing requesting that the registered keeper remove it from their property, and they can be reported for officers to consider enforcement action,’ a spokesman said.
‘This may result in the issue of parking tickets, and following that, Traffic & Highway Services and the police can consider removing the vehicle if it is considered abandoned.’
Through the States bulk refuse scheme, cars and light vans can be scrapped for just £30 if they need to be collected, or for free if they can be driven or transported to Guernsey Recycling.