Problem pigs face eviction as Planning Department huffs, puffs and blows their house down

But a group of pigs living near Rozel appear to have been given their final trotting orders after a planning enforcement notice mandating their eviction was issued.

The animals, which occupy an area of woodland near the former Bistro Frère restaurant on Grande Route de Rozel, reportedly escaped from their enclosure on several occasions.

Buses were held up and nearby householders claimed that they had to make alterations to their properties to stop them from getting in. The parish’s Chef de Police, meanwhile, wrote to those living in the area asking for an impact statement outlining how the presence of the animals might have affected them.

But the owners of the site have been handed two formal orders – an enforcement notice and a land condition notice – both of which must be complied with within 90 days.

Within the enforcement notice it says the field is within the green zone and woodland to the east of it is within the Coastal National Park – with the latter affording it the highest possible protection.

The site of the alleged infraction on Grande Route de Rozel. Picture: ROB CURRIE. (31009806)

It says: ‘The keeping and rearing of pigs within the woodland directly to the east of Field MN88 has caused visible harm to the area of woodland, leaving it without ground-covering vegetation and undermining the roots of the remaining trees. This represents a loss of amenity in respect of the woodland, which is not agricultural land, which is being adversely affected by the condition or use of the land, as set out in Article 86 of the Planning and Building (Jersey) Law 2002.’

The notice, signed by Simon Thomas, acting building control manager, also alleges that two vehicles and a trailer are being stored on the land and says that they, along with the pigs, must be removed.

Within the land condition notice, also signed by Mr Thomas, it is alleged that multiple timber and metal frame structures have been erected without planning permission. They must be taken down.

St Martin Constable Karen Shenton-Stone said she had received several complaints about the pigs over the years, so was pleased at the news.

‘I am absolutely thrilled and delighted. I started working on this in June 2018, so it has taken a long time to sort out,’ she said.

‘I am extremely grateful to the Environment Department, as they have been affected by Covid and quite understaffed. I would have liked action to have been taken a bit sooner but I am not going to hold a grudge.’

The landowner was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

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