States to be asked to cover Bellozanne battle legal costs

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Taxpayers could be asked to foot the bill for a legal fight between the States and the Parish of St Helier over removing a 65-year-old deal granting Parish residents free waste disposal, paving the way for new commercial waste charges.

The Parish lost the case, and a subsequent appeal - meaning parishioners are faced with paying both the Parish's legal bill of £256,000 - which has already been settled - as well as that of their opponent, the Department for Infrastructure.

But town Constable Simon Crowcroft said in a Parish Assembly proposition that he had “received assurances” from the Chief Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Eddie Noel that the Parish would not have to take on Infrastructure’s costs too following a “verbal agreement” on Friday.

That's now disputed by Deputy Noel, who told Express that no agreement had been reached. He said that the Constable had been “premature” in publishing the proposal and that, upon further investigation, it turned out that it would be illegal.

“We told him that we’d like to [cover our own legal costs], but we needed to check whether we were legally allowed to… I was quite surprised that the Constable lodged it when he did and that it was tweeted by one of his Procureurs and publicised when we hadn’t been able to give him any confirmation,” he said.

The only way to “trump” this law, Deputy Noel explained, would be to secure a majority of votes in the States Assembly.

Pictured: Minister for Infrastructure Deputy Eddie Noel said that the Constable should not have assumed that DfI would pay for their own legal costs, following a months-long battle in the Royal Court and Court of Appeal.

Constable Crowcroft told Express that he now has a proposition “ready to go”, which he hopes will secure the backing of the Chief Minister and Deputy Noel, as well as the parish’s 11 representatives - one of whom, Deputy Richard Rondel, may have a difficult decision ahead, given his dual role as St Helier politician and Assistant Minister in the Department for Infrastructure.

At a parish assembly tonight in the Town Hall at 19:00, parishioners will have to decide if they want to reverse a previous decision to continue the legal fight even further.

But Constable Crowcroft is urging them not to do that, arguing that, “…in view of the uncertainty of a successful outcome and the potential high cost to the Parish of further legal proceedings at the Privy Council, a line should be drawn under the matter."

The issue has wider implications as the Infrastructure Department wants to bring in commercial waste charges - but that would be more difficult as long as the Bellozanne Covenant remains in place, as its believed businesses in St Helier who pay parish rates might be exempt.