Legal threat to Castel over Le Friquet Sunday opening
Friday 9th July 2010, 2:30PM BST.
Deputy Barry Paint has at a parish level been involved in working out exactly what Le Friquet Garden Centre can and cannot sell on a Sunday. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0995965)
LE FRIQUET Garden Centre’s freedom to open on Sundays as it does currently is under threat, the Guernsey Press can reveal.
It follows a dispute between Trading Standards and Castel parish officials about whether the garden centre is breaking the Sunday trading law.
The parish believes the business does comply and is happy for it to continue its Sunday operations.
However, it is understood that Trading Standards wants further changes to be made at the garden centre and has warned Castel officials they could face legal action if they do not limit what Le Friquet sells on Sundays.
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Absolutly pathetic!!!
Le Friquet is about all Guernsey has going for it on a Sunday at the moment – when will the killjoys go away & let us get on with life….
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I read in the paper something ridiculous that if they changed the name of certain products they could sell them on a Sunday.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the Sunday trading laws are ridiculously inconsistent. No matter which side of the debate you sit on any sane person can see that they need a radical overhaul.
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Well said Paul but isn’t it simpler, easier and fairer just to repeal them completely and not replace them with anything?
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You should all be in Church on a Sunday!
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i absolutely agree! Sunday trading laws are outdated and, more than anything, very annoying!
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I’m a bit torn on the subject Martino to be honest – on one side I agree with you that people should have the freedom to choose. However, I remain concerned that some employers could effectively force their staff to work Sundays, thus preventing them having time with their families – this is especially concerning for working people with children or a partner that works Monday-Friday.
What I do know for certain is that the existing law is a nonsense as it only protects some and doesn’t provide choice – all it seems to achieve is confusion.
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Having read today’s GP comment, too, I have to ask; what is the POINT of the Sunday trading law?
Why was it introduced in the first place?
Paul, I take the point about people not having a day with their families.
But I am led to believe that the current employment law already prevents an employer being able to force an employee to work on a Sunday.
If the Sunday Trading law was revoked I’m sure a lot of shops still wouldn’t open, anyway.
If you look at the garages that sell petrol on Sunday’s, you’ll see that some are open and some aren’t.
Let shop owners decide whether they trade or not.
For my part, this is a classic case of government interfering with absolutely no valid reason.
So come on then, where’s a deputy willing to take a requete to the States to sort this out once and for all?
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Sunday is a day set apart,and people have 6 days of the week to go shopping and many large shops are open till well past office hours,so what more do they want?Two things spring to mind Greed and Selfishness.Greedy business owners and selfish people who think their every whim should be catered for!
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I cannot wait until God packs up and leaves Guernsey, then there will finally be something to do on Sunday!
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I am not religious or a Sunday attendee at Church and you raise good points for debate, Paul, but it leaves you safely sitting on the fence, and that’s not good for your community.
Where I live everything – and I do mean everything – is open 7 days every week excepting Christmas Day. Even then, some are open Christmas Day and, in an increasing number of cases, 24hrs seven days per week.
Full-week full-time ‘opening’ is an insidious creeping desease that Guernsey would do well to avoid at all costs. I guarantee it is not the way to live or how life was meant to be. No longer is there an inner peace to life, no Sunday sanctum, family’s are split to serve commerce and to serve the consuming desire for further profit by those who have, the business-owners and shareholders.
Opening six days per week is ample, plenty, and sufficient. 5 days would be better. Those who cannot get their shopping done on those six days should not shop in Guernsey, period.
Don’t allow commerce to further destroy that which you are rapidly losing.
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eh – so what. We’re too materialistic anyway. Do people good to get away from the shops on sunday… ;)
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Paul, if your concern is about employers forcing staff to work on a Sunday, then surely the obvious answer is to pass laws directly aimed at protecting staff rather than legislating on what goods can & cannot be sold. That way you’d offer equal protection to staff working in businesses that can already trade seven days a week.
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What a load of old tosh…If a shop is allowed to open on a Sunday then it should be able to sell all the products it stocks full stop. All this niggling over this product or that is is just petty nit picking by over zealous jobs worths.
The press report stated that the Sunday trading law had been amended some 12 times in a short space of time which just goes to show how out of date the whole issue is.
I really don’t hink people are too bothered about the items on sale just whether the shop is open or not open, and as for those who say we should all be in church, the Sunday trading laws prevent the sale of a bible but not a “top shelf” magazine (or at least they used to) then i suppose if we went to church we could read one for free eh..!!!
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Ok, perhaps we want to keep some sense of the Sabbath by restricting what shops can open/what they can sell. However, anyone who says that this is about “protecting employees” and ensuring people get time with the families, is not seeing the whole picture.
If the reason for imposing restrictions is for that purpose, then all hotels, restaurants, pubs, corner shops, petrol stations, beach kiosks etc etc etc should also be forced to close. As it is, a significant number of people work on a Sunday. So what is the point of the law?
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le Friquet at the moment on a Sunday is pointless. There is no reason for it to be open in the current state on a Sunday. You can’t buy half the stuff in there, and it looks stupid with all that red tape blocking stuff off.
I’m surprised they actually open at all. It is somewhere to go on a Sunday afternoon, but people will want to buy something as well.
You can’t buy birthday cards and books but you can buy bird seed?? It’s very random.
Throw away the Sunday trading laws and let people pick if they want to open or not
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The sunday trading laws are out of keeping with modern life. People do want to be able to shop on a Sunday, and buy whatever they want without restriction. Some say Sunday is for church, some for family, but nobody can argue that being able to sell a sweater on a Sunday will lead to the demise of either. The Friquet is about the best thing to happen to Guernsey since the liberation, and this dispute is not about a way of life but the jealously of less enterprising business owners. Being able to shop at Checkers, B and Q or anywhere else on a rainy dismal Sunday would give us all the flexibility to manage our free time more effectivley which can only enhance our quality of life.
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Expat80 – Yes, I am sitting on the fence at the moment, but it’s not a comfortable place to be. I don’t like being in that position but better to sit there until I’ve heard all the available arguments before coming to a reasoned conclusion than jump on either side’s bandwagon.
I think Ian has a good idea – some kind of employee protection legislation could well be the answer. If Mike is right that there are laws to protect employees from working on Sundays then that’s certainly a help.
Oh, and Sanguine -God’s not going anywhere, sorry. Still although I’m a committed Christian I actually don’t think this argument has got that much to do with religion – the majority of churchgoers I know manage to make arrangements with their employers to attend church frequently, if not every week. From my perspective it’s more about protecting families.
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PS Sanguine – nothing to do on Sunday? Sure the law is ridiculously inconsistent but you make it sound like church is the only thing open!
If church isn’t your thing you could always go for a walk, go out for a meal, visit friends, play sport, go to the pub for a pint, watch a movie, get a takeaway, surf the web, go for a drive….or if you’re really stuck for ideas you could fill your car with petrol or complain on Internet forums that there’s nothing to do.
Unless your life revolves around shopping you can do pretty much everything you could do on other days. By all means blame God for the lack of shopping choice but I hardly think it’s fair to blame him for your lack of imagination. ;-)
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I work 9-5.30 every weekday so Saturday is very busy trying to do all the shopping in one day. If more places were open on Sunday I, along with many others, could split the shopping between the two. The result would be that the town would be less crowded which would be great.
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does it really matter if a shop is trading on a sunday? no just because it is open does not mean that you have to go into it! You have a choice if to go into a shop or garden centre or not! You dont have to go to church if you do not want to as its up to the individual. IF the majority of Gurnsey people want to have trading hours on a sunday why not have it as a trial period? also if you want to go to church then go to church but dont tell other people to go to church for something to do on a sunday as that is unfair.
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You’re quite right Belinda and you’ve made my point for me that the current law is a joke regardless of which side of the proverbial fence you sit on – or in my case from my uncomfortable position on it!
The law as it stands is a hotchpotch of nonsensical regulations that has been amended time and time again but to what end? It neither protects employees or provides consumer choice – all it does is generate confusion and debates like this one.
Giving this some more thought over the evening, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are valid points on both sides of the argument, which is why I find it difficult to get off the fence. Expat80’s argument that 24/7 opening is killing society is flawed – ask shift workers on the mainland whether they benefit from 24/7 opening and many will tell you that they do. I’m not saying that makes it right but the issue is more complicated than we think it is.
Personally I think the fairest solution is that the people of Guernsey should decide via a public consultation. This is our island, our community and our culture – let us decide what we want to do with it….let us make our own bed, and then we will lie in it and bear whatever consequences come. If we make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world – it can always be changed if we have the courage to do admit we were wrong.
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I was opposed to Sunday trading when first mooted in the 80s; not for any particular religious fervour, more the idea of Sunday being the one day in the week when the island was quiet and with a sense of protection for workers who might be forced into working on that day.
20 years on? Society has changed. Personally, I’d have no issue with dispensing with the restrictions completley and let the retailers do what they want.
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I’m a town retailer and don’t want to be forced to open on sundays. Which will happen because all the UK multipies will open and I’ll have to as well. Realistly my staff wheather they want to or not will have to work on Sunday as well.
I have to work or be on call six days a week. Every day will be too much.
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gordon 9.00-5.30 Monday to Friday lucky you!
Can’t talk for the rest of retail but I think there are enough grocery stores open at the moment and I wouldn’t wish to see staff forced to work on Sundays as most in retail already work on Saturday as well. If however you open on Sunday you should be able to sell whatever you wish would it be too simple just to repeal the current laws?
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Guernsey States poking there noses again, how stupid, I agree if you are open you should be allowed to sell what you have on display. as christmas approaches, and the garden centres get there decorations in we are not allowed to buy them till it is close to Christmas, last year it was all taped off, how ridiculous. If you dont agree to Sunday Trading stay home then in your little world, but some of us live in the year 2010.
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Nobody is forced to work on a Sunday. You do have the option of opting out of Sunday working without threat of losing your job. What your employer can do though is tell you at interview if it involves Sunday working (in which case you can then decide to not go for the job if it affects you). They could also decrease your hours and give the hours to someone who could work a Sunday. After they’ve asked you first of course.
Most employers are quite reasonable usually you get a higher rate of pay for working Sunday to entice you to do so!
Times they are a changing over here. When I did my stint over in the UK I often worked on a Sunday. No skin off my nose. I had the day off somewhere else and it was usually much better as I could get my bits and pieces done in town when it wasn’t packed. I think the main put off though is for workers wanting to spend time with friends and family who often than not don’t work on a Sunday.
Paul – I think that’s a very good suggestion.
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Lynnie
Would you have had to pay extra to get your bits and pieces done on a Sunday?
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Not sure I’m following you Ray. I’ve only had one coffee so far so that may be the reason.
The higher rate of pay is to entice workers. It wasn’t adopted in the UK. You got paid the same on a Sunday as what you did any other day. There also wasn’t the option of choosing not to work on a Sunday.
The money the store would make by opening up on a Sunday would have to be relative to the wages and overheads they pay. As far as I’m aware there’s no store out there that bumps up their price on a Sunday and nor would they need to.
I doubt main retailers in town would be stuck for customers on a Sunday. If the retail shops in town opened they would make a profit. I think a lot of people would use the shops if they were open.
I would.
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Ah coffee now administered.
Very droll.
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I know if the shops were open on sunday I would do my non food shopping then, as I am the same as Gordon, the shops are closed when I finish work, so I end up doing most of my shopping on the internet! What gets me annoyed is that some shops close at 4pm!
Sometimes Sports Direct and Boots are open on a sunday but it appears to be pot luck when you will find them open (I have a feeling its when the Cruise ships are in!)
Ex-pat, are you trying to say that you do all of your shopping (including getting papers or petrol etc) between 9 to 5 monday to friday…because I don’t believe you!
Neil can you not do one of your questionaires about whether people want sunday trading or do you need a client first?
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Hang on a bit – these are the same ‘States’ who propose opening Leale’s yard as a massive shopping park, yet they’re ‘protecting’ shops at the moment by stopping them opening on a Sunday..? Or by dictating exactly what they can sell.
This is a farce, and we’re paying them to police it!
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Maz
No sooner said than done. Results out today :-)
Downloads as PDF
http://www.submarine.gg/downloads/SundayTrading.pdf
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Friquet should open on a Sunday without any restriction to what they can sell to attract visitors to the Island as Town shops won’t be open. We need more visitors. Sabbath Day is a day for church and in this century, you don’t see a lot go to church anyway. It’s up to individual. Earn a living by working or ask help from God or the States?
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Do you really think that by shops not being open on Sundays people would go to church instead? The one has nothing to do with the other. You either go to church or not. Le Friquet being open will not change that decision. It’s a nice place to relax, have a coffee and spend time with your family on a Sunday especially if the weather isn’t nice. I find it so frustrating when you want to buy something there on a Sunday and can’t. It’s absurd. I can’t understand why people have a problem with it being open?
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Sunday Trading Laws are outdated! It doesnt stop me from shopping on the internet thereby spending my money outside of Guernsey.
Imagine all the extra Guernsey jobs and Guernsey tax dollars which could be generated by Sunday trading that could go towards the hospital and medical services, rebuilding schools, old age pensions etc. What a wasted opportunity for the States.
If it is so that people attend Church then why not just limit the hours – which would happen anyway without any intervention. Why is that people can go to a pub and get totally drunk on a Sunday but it is deemed offensive to buy a shirt? Ridiculous.
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That was quick Neil :O)!!
Nice to know that I am with the ~73% that want the shops open on sunday. As Will says its absurd that you can go to the pub all day but you can not buy certain items. I would say that I would be happy with 10 till 4 opening times, that way the staff could have a lie in in the morning and get to a bbq in the late afternoon.
For the church vs shopping argument, I could go to church for an hour in the morning and shopping in the afternoon me! I don’t go to church, but I could!
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“As Will says its absurd that you can go to the pub all day but you can not buy certain items”
No arguments there. Drink good, vase bad!
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Deputy Marc Laine had it right when he said any attempt to tinker with the current, unworkable law or laws would result in a dog’s dinner being re-served as a dog’s breakfast.
Why can’t the States do the simple, easy, logical – and popular – thing for once and just repeal the lot?
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