NEIGHBOURS have rallied around Janice Carre and branded the termination of her States house tenancy a disgrace. Fellow Mahaut Gardens residents called Housing’s action - which could see a family put out on the street - excessive.
Miss Carre has been told that she and her three daughters must be out of their home of 12 years by a week today.
A recent feud with a neighbour ended with her being convicted of harassing the woman and fined £200 in the Magistrate’s Court.
The Housing Department subsequently issued her with a notice to quit and effectively blacklisted her from States housing for life.
Neighbours say that other tenants in the island are still living in their States houses after committing far more serious offences.
‘I don’t feel happy at all,’ said Kenneth Power, 63, who has lived on the estate for 22 years.
‘Janice has always been a bit boisterous in the past but she is quite likeable and has never caused any ﾓaggroﾔ to us and the majority of people around here,’ he said.
‘I know there is friction with another woman but it should have been resolved months ago.
‘Housing let it rumble on too long and it has now come to this and they can’t be seen to be backing down.
‘But there are other ways of doing this with a penalty of some sort.
‘To put people on the street in 2008 is a bit Edwardian,’ he said.
However, Housing minister Dave Jones defended the department’s actions. ‘All our tenants are well aware of their obligations under their tenancy agreements. We as a department will simply not tolerate a small minority of tenants disrupting the lives of others who live on our housing estates,’ he said.
‘The rights of all our tenants to live in peace and security in their homes is something the Housing Department is determined to preserve and any tenant or group of tenants who causes problems for neighbours or other residents in our properties can expect little sympathy from the department.
But mother of two Debbie Guest, 29, who has lived at Mahaut Gardens all her life and been a tenant there for more than three years, said: ‘It’s awful. I have never seen or heard anything that Janice has been accused of and never seen her give abuse.
‘Janice has been brought right down and is suffering a lot of depression.
‘I feel she has been treated unfairly and Housing has never threatened to kick her out before.
‘They don’t want to listen - I wrote a letter to them and it was not even acknowledged,’ she said.
‘They can’t put a mother and three kids on the street.’
‘Who is going to help her out? If I could I would let her and her family come and live with me, but because it’s a States house they would not allow that.
‘I don’t think what she did was bad enough to throw a family out of their home,’ she said.
Neighbour Nikki Mauger, 25, said: ‘I think it’s disgusting that Housing can give a family just over a week before throwing them out on the streets.’
Another Mahaut Gardens resident, a 28-year-old mother of two who did not wish to be named, described the family’s eviction as ’scandalous’.
‘No one can get out of anywhere in that amount of time.
‘She is not going ever to be allowed to have a States house for something that does not amount to serious harassment. It’s that petty that most of us have not seen anything that is meant to have gone on.
‘If it was more serious the whole estate would know about it.’
Neighbours claim that no notice has been taken of letters they sent to Housing on Miss Carre’s behalf.
Deputy Jones said a lot of time had been spent on the case. ‘Our staff have shown infinite patience in this particular case, as they do with all cases where there are disputes between neighbours and the decision to ask tenants to quit the property are not taken lightly.
‘I have spoken to the staff dealing with this particular case and I am perfectly satisfied that they have attempted to resolve a difficult situation amicably over a protracted period of time.
‘However, after several warnings this has not been possible in this case.’
Miss Carre said the residents’ support was ‘absolutely fantastic’.
‘I appreciate them doing that. They know me and I’m not the kind of person to harass anyone. I don’t mince my words but anybody that knows me knows I’m normally a bubbly person. What you see is what you get,’ she said.
* Miss Carre is looking for alternative accommodation and can be contacted by phone on 07781 416934.
Article posted on 12th January, 2008 - 12.00am
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