JSPCA PRESS RELEASE

October 2005  

PLANNING PERMISSION REFUSED FOR PIG UNIT

A local businessman, Mr Alfonso Luis, who has already been convicted for animal cruelty on two separate occasions, has been refused planning permission to build a pig rearing unit in St Saviour.

After consideration of the proposed plans and the nature of the site itself, the Environment and Public Service Committee agreed with planning officers that the sloping apple orchard was an inappropriate site for an enterprise such as a pig unit.  It was noted that the suggested farming operation would also be a pollution risk to the local water table, in addition to creating an unacceptable increase in traffic on adjacent small country lanes. 

The Committee has also advised Mr Alfonso Luis to remove the buildings that were erected on the orchard site a year ago, as no planning permission for these buildings had been given, and to remove all the animals that are currently resident at the site within the next 28 days. 

The decision made by the Committee has naturally pleased local residents, who contributed to some of the many letters of objection received at the Planning Office to this proposed farming enterprise.

In September 2004, Mr Alfonso Luis was convicted of causing suffering to rabbits and was fined and banned from keeping rabbits for five years.  In September 2005, Mr Alfonso Luis was again charged under the Protection of Animals (Jersey) Law 1980, for cruelly tethering sheep and was subsequently fined and banned from keeping sheep for one year.

ENDS