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A popular food kiosk at La Pulente is shutting for the final time this weekend, ending a long-running saga which involved planning disputes, accusations of personal vendettas and a Royal Court battle that left the Parish of St Brelade with a hefty legal bill.
Having traded on the road that leads down to the slipway for more than seven years, The Hideout will close on Sunday.
Writing on Facebook, owner Karl Sutton said: “It is with great sadness that we announce that The Hideout will be closing its shutters at La Pulente."
"We want to thank all our customers"
He continued: “We want to thank all our customers, suppliers, and supporters in the parish and beyond for their enduring support and loyalty over the years.
“The Hideout was heading towards a decade of trading, and it has been our pleasure to get to know you all over that time.
“The community of regular customers we forged by reinvigorating what was previously a void at the end of the bay is something we’re incredibly proud of."
No desire for "another David and Goliath battle"
“We have done everything we can to keep the business alive," he added. "We have considered another David and Goliath battle with our elected officials but do not want to do so at a cost to our parishioners. With the end of the line in relative sight and no solutions forthcoming from the parish, we have no option but to cease trading as of October 29th.”
The ‘battle’ Mr Sutton refers to relates to, in essence, the fact that the former toilet block at the top of the access road was sold by the States in 2014.
It has since been redeveloped as a café and restaurant. The Hideout, which started trading close to the toilet block in 2016, was told to move by the Parish of St Brelade, which owns the slip road, in 2020 because it would be in the way of the proposed redevelopment.
A long-running row
However, Mr Sutton successfully campaigned to remain open until the café was fully up and running, which took a lot longer than first estimated, and a compromise was reached whereby the Hideout kiosk moved further down the access road, where it has remained.
Pictured: Nude Dunes is now open for business after a lengthy delay.
The matter even reached the Royal Court, with Mr Sutton seeking judicial review of a decision by St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson not to extend the kiosk’s permit.
The two sides reached a last-minute out-of-court settlement, which extended the Hideout’s permission and St Brelade agreeing to pay Mr Sutton’s legal bill.
With the former toilet block – now Nude Dunes – up and running, the Hideout is closing, although Mr Sutton still feels aggrieved.
He wrote: “We’re leaving a little ahead of time. Some felt our time should have been up once the new Nude café/public toilets opened their doors, but it was actually after all regulatory sign-offs that we were contractually obliged to vacate.
“Despite the Nude building now being open and trading, this process is still not complete. While we could enter another battle with the parish, we couldn’t do that with a clear conscience, knowing that the Constable has proven he is willing and able to use parishioners’ funds to fight us; it would be lose/lose all round.”
"We always felt there was a market for both audiences"
He added: “We are sad that there will no longer be an accessible option for our customers at the Pulente end of the bay, particularly between Monday and Thursday, when there will not yet be provision in the Nude opening hours for what we offered.
“The Hideout took pleasure in opening all hours, all year round, public holidays, and even over covid lockdowns for those who want quick, easy, affordable, dog-friendly, quick surf-check coffee and snack.
“Nude clearly has a fantastic offering, but we always felt there was a market for both audiences to be served on our slipway. It is a sad day when a well-established and much-loved business is forced to close, but all that is left for us to do is move on.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being so amazing, embracing what we created, and supporting The Hideout all this time. We have enjoyed serving you all … hopefully we’ll be back at some point. Watch this space.”
Mr Jackson said he had received a letter from Mr Sutton saying the Hideout was closing at the end of the month.
The Constable said: "We live in a regulatory society and we have to follow the rules, and Karl Sutton was not good at following the rules.
Pictured: St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson: "It is time for The Hideout to move on".
"His planning permission, which had already been extended, ran out on 24 June and there were a number of objections to that application.
"It was always agreed that it would be a temporary service pending the completion of the nearby café, and that is now built and successfully trading, and it is time for The Hideout to move on.
"I have nothing personal against Karl whatsoever, but I don’t see why Nude Dunes and nearby Staks have to comply with regulations but he doesn’t."
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