Guernsey Mum refuses to back down

Last September, Channel Television reported on the case of Guernsey woman Debi Troth.

She'd extended the back garden of her States house without permission from the Housing Department.

They said she had to return the fence to its original position, but she said she needed the extra space to give her young, hearing-impaired child somewhere safe to play.

Now the Housing Department have got their way, and have now presented Debi with a £900 bill she says she has no intention of paying.

Cadeyn can only play safely in his back garden if his mother is there to keep an eye on him.

Now not only has the fence been moved back, it's been replaced with one considerably lower. It means not only that Cadeyn has less space to play in, but that he can't be left to play alone. A four foot wire fence is no barrier for a mischievous six year old - and with his hearing problems going outside the garden just isn't safe.

Debi Troth, parent, told channelonline.tv; "It drives me mad actually because he needs to burn off the energy that he's got and the weather hasn't really been great enough to take him down the park to burn off the energy so basically he's been cooped up inside, and it does get quite frustrating because he does try and get out, I'm screaming and yelling you know at him to try and keep him in and it's just awkward all the way round, and then he starts getting under my feet when I'm trying to do things as you can see and he's just a livewire and he needs to let off the steam."

But Cadeyn's excess energy isn't Debi's only problem. She's also been sent a bill of more than £900 by the Housing Department. She says she's not paying it - and they should be more sympathetic.

What Debi did was to extend her fence so that the garden finished on the other side of the path - giving her all that extra room for Cadeyn to play in. But as she said, that still left access through this part for the other houses behind me which still needed that right of way. Now it's been taken back, there's far less space and less room for Cadeyn to play in - when he's allowed in the garden. The other problem that she's had is that since they've moved the fence back all this rubbish has been dumped in the path. She says that none of it's anything to do with her, but you certainly wouldn't want a six year old climbing over the fence and playing with it when he got there.

Debi doesn't deny that she shouldn't have moved the fence. But now that she's been left with her original garden plus a hefty bill, does she regret it?

She told channelonline.tv; "I still believe I need the extra space, because it wasn't really big enough before, if it had been big enough I wouldn't have bothered doing it, but it was just, I don't regret doing it and I might even extend it again." (from CTVonline)

It seems like the department just playing he "Big I Am" from what I have seen on TV she didn't seem to be causing a problem...

The problem here is if you live in a States property you are not allowed to alter it in any way shape or form without prior permission , and quite rightly so . If all tenants altered their property it would be a nightmare with tenants arguing with each other . From what i saw on the news there was an issue with the fence she moved was right over a path (neighbours right of way) which could have caused problems for both the landlords & the tenant .

I have found that housing are usually pretty good if you explain what you would like to do .

you will find what the tenancy agreement states in the following link.look on page six

http://www.gov.gg/ccm/cms-service/stream/asset/?asset_id=1001046&