Use of douzaine address in legal notice surprises Constable
Thu 18 Jul 2024
Richard Leale said he wanted to reassure parishioners that nothing untoward had happened affecting the douzaine or its officials and it appeared that the company, Guernsey Country Markets Limited, had used the office address without his knowledge or permission.
The notice (below) appeared in La Gazette Officielle in the newspaper and said that the registration of Guernsey Country Markets had been cancelled under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
"The reasons for that appeared particularly alarming," said Mr Leale. The notice stated: "The grounds of the cancellation are that the society has wilfully violated section 89 of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 by not submitting to the Authority any annual returns acceptable for filing for the society's financial years ending 2013 - 2022."
Surprise
Publication of the notice was the first he knew of the issue – and the publication was also a complete surprise to the North Community Market, which is the successor to the Guernsey Country Markets named in the notice and operates from the Vale Douzaine Room.
Treasurer and organiser Sarah Breton explained that the market was originally started by the WI as far back as 1984 and became affiliated with the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies some time after, which provided help with matters like insurance, health and safety and hygiene standards.
After Ms Breton took over the running of the market in 2012/13, she set about deregistering from the society as the £400 annual fee wasn't worth the benefits, not least because insurance was then being obtained locally.
She said deregistration had been difficult but assumed her attempts had been successful as the market has been renamed, is registered locally as a not-for-profit organisation under the local charity regulations and complies with all Guernsey requirements.
"It came as a complete surprise to me when we learned of the notice but nothing has changed and we're open every Friday at the Vale Douzaine as usual," she said.
- More about the North Community Market can be found here.