SOLD: Les Quennevais fields go for £409k

Tuesday 30 October 2018

A lawyer representing the owners of fields crucial to the new Les Quennevais School project has blasted the States for “changing offers” and “moving goalposts” as he revealed that the land had sold for £409,000 – one tenth of what the owners had originally demanded.

Following months of fraught negotiations, the contract finally passed in the Royal Court on Friday at a value £174,000 higher than what the States hoped to pay.

Representing Mr and Mrs Carrel, Advocate James Lawrence commented that the pair were “pleased” the sale was complete and that they “can now put this difficult process behind them.” 

“This has been a transaction of real compromise, with our clients frequently having to deal with moving goalposts, changing offers and conflicting messages,” he said.

Pictured: Advocate James Lawrence, Mr and Mrs Carrel's legal representative.

He later added: “To be clear, throughout the discussions, our clients have asked only for fair treatment in order to help move this project forward. The reality is that this sale effectively means the loss of an old Jersey farmstead, and our clients’ simple intention has always been to regain the loss in value of selling part of their farm in addition to fair compensation in accordance with the law. 

“It has clearly been an incredibly stressful time for the Carrels and, without the desire nor the emotional or financial resources for an ongoing legal battle against the might of the States of Jersey, it is a welcome conclusion to this saga.”

The sale comes following negotiation difficulties that started in the first quarter of this year. 

Back in March, the then Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Eddie Noel, explained that a forced sale was being considered as an option after the owners demanded £4million for the land – around 20 times the States’ original offer. He also said that the offer had been caveated with requests relating to limiting usage of the fields. Both requests were reported in an official Ministerial Decision report.

In an attempt to smooth things over in July, his successor, Deputy Kevin Lewis, lambasted the media for reporting on the previous fall-out, with States officials offering an alternative version of events: “The Minister wishes to make clear that (the owner) had not demanded £4 million, and that while a request was made to limit activity on the playing fields after 9.30pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays, this was not simply for the benefit of (the owners) but for all the nearby residents.”

Deputy Lewis added that it was hoped that the matter could now be resolved in a “spirit of cooperation, hopefully without the additional public expense of concluding a compulsory purchase.”

But this was unsuccessful, leading the Minister for Education, Senator Tracey Vallois to sign an order for compulsory purchase. At the time, she said the States were seeking to buy at a sum of £235,000 (£15,000 per vergée and £58,900 “in respect of the reduction in value of retained land reduced by reason of severance from other land in the same ownership”).

However, the contract eventually passed on Friday saw the fields go for around 40% more at £409,000.