The Intrusive Nature of a Jersey Guy

'The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common;
But lets the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose.'

The anonymous poet was referring to the effects of the Enclosures - literally the fencing in of land to stop others from using it.

Before about 1740, most villages were enclosed by agreement. The main owners of the land made a private agreement to join their strips of land together. But this sometimes met with the opposition of a number of smaller landowners, so the larger landowners lobbied Parliament and got - in the 18th and 19th centuries in particular - Enclosure Acts passed. This meant they no longer had to obtain consent of the other landowners, but could go ahead with enclosures regardless.

Christopher Draper, author of "Llandudno Before the Hotels", tells of how Llandudno's 1843 Enclosure Act "was progressed through Parliament by Edward Mostyn Lloyd Mostyn M.P. whose family consequently acquired freehold rights over much of the old village of Llandudno. Smallholders were then evicted, their fields paved over and an ancient agricultural settlement transformed into a fashionable bathing resort. A century and a half later Mostyn Estates still own and control most of our town."

Enclosure Acts were was essentially a legal trump card which worked solely in favour of and for the benefit of the larger landowner. Nowadays, it would be the property developer!

Indeed, it is this kind of "legal trump card" which has been promoted by Guy de Faye, against the advice of his own officers, in what could be described as an "Intrusion Act". Under this ministerial fiat, if a landowner/property developer wanted to get water pipes, drainage etc through for utilities, and that meant going through other people's land, they could cheerfully ignore any requirements of consensus, and dig their way through their neighbours gardens.

Fortunately, the States have shown wisdom and rejected this, but it is unlikely to curb Guy de Faye's ability to make future sloppy decisions. So far, we have had:

a) a bus station, closed in the cold, wet, windy winter evenings, and opened in the nice warm summer months
b) massive motor-way height curbs at the end of Victoria Avenue (instead of the lower Guernsey ones which would have been the sensible option, and would have allowed drivers to move aside for ambulances)
c) Plans to phase out free bus passes
d) Rejection on plans for rear-seat belts
e) Rejection of plans to sort out St Brelade's beach (later rescinded after he had shot his mouth off)

and now this!

In the 2005 hustings, Deputy de Faye reflected on the apparently scant rewards of being a States member, suggesting to the audience that being branded "incompetent" came with the territory.

Maybe he should reflect on that....