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The full cost to taxpayers leading from an Assistant Minister's "unlawful" decision to veto the £120m Les Sablons development is to remain a secret due to a confidential legal agreement, it has emerged.
Developers Le Masurier had sought permission to regenerate two acres of town into 238 apartments, a 103-room Aparthotel, restaurants, shops and a walkway linking Broad Street and Commercial Street.
After the development was refused, Le Masurier put forward an appeal and an independent planning expert said the development should be able to go ahead.
But Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune nonetheless decided to reject it in a move that sparked significant backlash – including a controversial public statement from the then-Chief Minister Kristina Moore expressing her extreme disappointment.
Pictured: The proposed view of the development from Charing Cross. (Le Masurier)
When Le Masurier then launched a further fight via the Royal Court, it was later confirmed that, following legal advice, Deputy Jeune would not be fighting the appeal and that she had accepted the decision was "unlawful". The then-Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet later gave the green light to the development.
It was confirmed at the time that taxpayers would have to foot the bill for the developer's legal costs.
At the time, Managing Director Brian McCarthy said that, while he was happy with the overall result, which he said was a "real success story for Jersey and a positive development for St Helier and our island", he added: "Disappointingly it's still a cost, a burden, that taxpayers will have to pick up."
He estimated the legal costs needing to be paid by Government to be in the region of "tens of thousands".
However, it emerged yesterday that the exact amount of money spent in relation to the planning row will not be disclosed.
Pictured: An artist's impression of Les Sablons' central courtyard. (Le Masurier)
Following questions from Deputy Max Andrews, Environment Minister Steve Luce – who was not in place at the time of the row – confirmed that "costs associated with the Judicial Review of the Assistant Minister’s decision to refuse planning permission is subject to a confidential legal agreement" between Government and Le Masurier. As a result, they will "not be publicly disclosed".
He also said it would not be possible to fully quantify the cost to Government of processing Le Masurier's planning applications.
"The costs of all planning applications and appeals are covered by existing annual revenue budget and are not broken down into individual applications. Specific costs (officer time for instance) cannot be quantified," Deputy Luce said.
He did, however, add that the application was "subject to a significant application fee", and also revealed that the Government had incurred an "additional cost of £3,500 to obtain advice from an independent consultant regarding economic viability".
At the time the Les Sablons plans were first launched, Express spoke to Mr McCarthy about the vision for Les Sablons and the wider regeneration of St. Helier...
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