Guernsey Watch

Guernsey Watch

Rubbish News

“TURNING an agricultural field in St Peter’s into a ‘graveyard’ for cars, tyres and broken pots resulted in a £3,000 fine for defendant Matthew Le Page. The 52-year-old, of La Balise, Rue de la Viltole, Torteval, had initially denied two charges of ignoring compliance notices, that were issued by the planners to clear the site. But at the 11th hour of the trial in the Magistrate’s Court, after all the evidence for both sides had been heard, he changed his plea to guilty on both counts.”

I have seen the photos of this, and it doesn’t seem very bad at all... compared with what we used to have at La Moye. When Cyril Syvret ran La Moye Garage, by the side of the garage, where there is now a space for cars for sale was a heap of cars which certainly would never have been sold.

Questions were raised in the Jersey Evening Post, and in the States about the eyesore, heap upon heap of broken cars, often with no tyres, broken windows, rusting bodywork, but as there was no health hazard, it seemed to be the general view that Mr Syvret had a right to dump what he wanted on his land, even if it was aesthetically unpleasing.

The same principle applied to Bob Bisson, the eccentric Bible quoting man who painted his house with Biblical verses, not in any tidy fashion, but just scrawled all over in rather messy handwriting.

Would Jersey authorities be as forgiving today, or would they police these sites more strongly? It would be interesting to know.

The Guernsey Way

“Two Guernsey midwives have been struck off the nursing register following the death of two babies. Lisa Granville and Tuija Roussel had previously been found guilty of failures relating to the deaths at the island's Princess Elizabeth Hospital. A third midwife, Antonia Manousaki, was suspended for a year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Staff administered drugs "without prescriptions" or without speaking to consultants, a panel heard.”

Dubbed by the media, “the Guernsey way”, this case was investigated thoroughly by the NMC, which found that there were serious failings in the care given to the babies.

One hopes that enough safeguards are put in place to prevent these events happening in the future.

The Guernsey Press reports that:

“Their long battle for truth and justice has clearly added to the pain of their loss and they feel not only that they were not helped by island institutions but that they were actively resisted. It is an all too common tale. Ordinary people asking difficult questions find their path blocked by a system that closes ranks and fails either to take them seriously or be open with the facts. In this instance it took the courage of a whistleblower to shine light into areas that those in authority sought to keep in the dark.”

In Jersey, it should be noted that The Minister of the Health and Social Services Department was ordered to comply with a summons for disclosure of key documents top the Jersey Care Inquiry. His lawyers, presumably on his instruction, had resisted this. Fortunately the Jersey Care Inquiry had legal teeth, and was able to press for the documents.

But how much time and cost was wasted because their path was also blocked by the system that refused to be open with facts, even given the considerable steps taken by the Inquiry for necessary redaction. No apology was as far as I am aware, ever given for this.

Lessons still need to be learnt.

References 
https://guernseypress.com/news/2017/10/07/landowner-fined-3000-for-his-car-graveyard
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-41435467