Select a region
It has been confirmed that the States did pay some of the legal costs in settling the dispute between landowners living at Fort Richmond.
Questions asked by Deputy Andy Taylor have confirmed that but it's not been revealed how much the dispute has cost the public purse.
Once used as barracks during efforts to protect the island from a French invasion, Fort Richmond itself sat empty for many years while under States ownership before being sold to Bembridge Ltd in June 2019 for £1million.
The recent dispute is said to centre around boundary issues between Fort Richmond itself and Maison de la Guerre, a neighbouring privately owned property.
The land where Maison de la Guerre sits has been owned by the Allez family since early last century. A bunker was built on their land during the Occupation and that was later developed into their family home. However, the boundary line was allegedly moved - dissecting the property - when Fort Richmond was sold in 2019.
The dispute between the Allez family and Julian Mountain - a director of Bembridge Ltd, who lives in Fort Richmond - escalated in recent months with opposing views on land ownership and access rights.
While that has since been resolved, Deputy Taylor has asked numerous questions of Policy and Resources - the States committee responsible for the sale of Fort Richmond - to try to get to the bottom of the boundary issues.
He recently used a series of Rule 14 questions to ask P&R for further details about the recent settlement between the neighbours which included the sale of parcels of land.
P&R confirmed that the States did contribute to the legal costs to settle the matter.
"On a voluntary basis the States covered a significant proportion of the legal costs of the neighbouring landowner, i.e. the Allez family, during negotiations to agree a boundary exchange," explained Deputy Lyndon Trott on behalf of P&R.
"While an agreement could not be achieved prior to the completion, the sale was concluded with boundaries clearly conveyed and understood by the legal representatives of the parties. As a private law matter the Committee does not believe it appropriate to comment further."
Since the boundary issue was resolved, some small parcels of land adjacent to Fort Richmond have also changed hands as part of the settlement agreement.
Questions persist over Fort Richmond saga
EXPLAINER: Fort Richmond, then and now
Neighbourly dispute leads to arrest
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.