Court to hear road closure case on Monday

Junior Constable Bill Cohu at the entrance to Hougue Jehannet

The case, brought by Guernsey Electricity Ltd on grounds of security, was to have been heard earlier but was delayed for what were called procedural reasons.

Senior Constable Richard Leale has since been advised that the matter will be dealt with on Monday 13 November. It is not known whether a decision will be handed down on the day or reserved for a later date. 

Such hearings are rare because of the significance of closing a road, which is why it is left to the court to make the decision.

GEL's application has been made under the Ordonnance Générale rélative aux Routes, Rues et Chemins of 1840 and as part of that process the Constables had to prepare a report for the Jurats based on comments made by interested parties at a public meeting held on site on 20 September.

There has been a lot of local opposition to permanent closure, with some saying that Guernsey Electricity had not presented a compelling case for closure on security grounds as the site would nevertheless retain other open points of access.