News

A truck that has been abandoned at the Vale Castle car park for weeks and is now full of potentially toxic rubbish won't be moved at parish expense, Senior Constable Richard Leale has said.

Details of a planning application that could enable the extraction of up to 4.1 million tonnes of stone from Chouet headland in three phases have been published and Vale parishioners have until August 17 to make representations to the planning service about the proposal.

A problem of coastal erosion at La Fontenelle Bay near Beaucette is likely to be resolved before the winter storms come and make the situation worse, the Environment Committee has said in response to representations from the parish and Vale Commons Council, which is responsible for the area.

Disposing of a truck that appears to have been abandoned at the car park opposite the Vale Castle could leave the Vale Douzaine – and parish ratepayers – facing a bill of around £1,000, Senior Constable Richard Leale has revealed. The cost has been significantly increased because the small lorry has been filled with rubbish.

Dog owners using L'Ancresse Common have been warned that they need to keep their animals on a lead at all times and under close supervision. This reminder follows what has been described as a spate of attacks and aggressive behaviour from pets.

We receive a number of complaints from time to time from parishioners concerned about vehicles that appear to have been abandoned at the coastal car park opposite the entrance to the Vale Castle. These reports are followed up – but not always successfully.

Inert builders' waste may not be dumped into the sea off Bulwer Avenue after all as the Environment Committee is now to look at whether using Les Vardes Quarry is a more environmentally friendly option. And following pressure from the Vale Douzaine, president Lindsay de Sausmarez has confirmed that the reappraisal will also look at filling in Longue Hougue Reservoir (pictured below).

Emergency action to help resolve the island's shortage of affordable housing is concentrated on the North with nearly 700 new builds scheduled for the "corridor" off the Bridge to Route Militaire, if the former Data Park is re-zoned from industrial to housing. The Data Park is currently earmarked as one of Guernsey's four key industrial zones and classed as "strategically important".

Another 190 new homes could be built in the north of the island after the States bought the former data park off Route Militaire for nearly £5m in the hope it can get change of use from industrial zoning to housing.

Vale householders are reminded that waste charges imposed by the States are set to rise from July 1 with the cost of a 90 litre black sack of residual to rise from £2.70 to £2.92.