Jersey nuisance law needs reviewing, panel says

The panel said the law was "currently falling short of providing adequate protection to the public"

Jersey's nuisance law does not protect people enough and should be reviewed, a complaints panel has said.

The States of Jersey Complaints Board (SJCB) said it believed the Statutory Nuisance (Jersey) Law 1999 and the application of it was "currently falling short of providing adequate protection to the public".

It comes after the board upheld a complaint from a woman who was not happy about how the Environment department responded to her concerns about noise.

Mrs Michelle Le Cornu said two electrical substations near her home in St Helier had created amplified noise and vibrations, as well as electric shocks and low frequency pressure, which had caused a disturbance.

She said she believed the department's failure to issue an enforcement notice was unreasonable in the circumstances and that all elements of the threshold for statutory nuisance had been met.

The SJCB said the shortfall was "having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of islanders, as evidenced in this and other recent cases and recommends that a review of the legislation be prioritised".

In a written statement, the Environment Minister Constable Andy Jehan said officers had "gone well beyond standard procedure" and conducted visits by six different officers "engaging external expertise, and reviewing independent reports to determine whether a statutory nuisance exists".

He said: "Despite these efforts, no conclusive evidence has been found to support formal enforcement action under the Statutory Nuisances (Jersey) Law 1999.

"The investigation did not identify a consistent or measurable source of disturbance."

Panel deputy chair Andy Hunter said although the department had accepted "the impact of the noise and vibration on the complainant, on the basis of the evidence received, the board reasoned that the department had not adequately investigated the source of the issue or sought expert advice in relation to measuring the resonance".