Little is being confirmed about the final details relating to the legal battle over the lease for the café at Fermain Bay, except for the estimated cost to the States.
A recent Freedom of Information tried to find out how much “the total private legal costs” incurred by the States was, along with whether any of that money had been recovered by the States from the opposing party.
The opposing party in this case is the current Fermain Café tenants, Belmiro de Freitas and Manuela Walter.
They’ve been running the cafe for more than 20 years but lost the lease in 2024 when it was put up for tender by the States.
The new tenant – the owner of cafés Coco and Lola – was meant to move in last year, but the existing tenants refused to vacate and opened the doors to their customers as normal, while challenging their eviction.
The States Policy and Resources Committee has now confirmed that its legal action to try and evict the tenants has cost the island around £170,000.
That indicates £70,000 was spent on the issue since last summer when the costs were estimated at just £100,000.
“In a previous FOI response in July 2025, we confirmed that the States’ legal costs at that time were in the region of £100,000,” explained P&R.
“Following the finalisation of court proceedings, the total legal costs relating to the above matter will be in the region of £170,000.”
P&R said the matter is now closed as far as the current committee is concerned.
“These costs have been fully accommodated within existing budgets. As outlined in previous responses, external legal expertise was engaged in line with standard practice where the Law Officers’ Chambers does not have sufficient capacity available. The Committee is pleased that the remaining matters relating to costs have now been resolved amicably, and importantly, without the need for any further court involvement.”
The FOI had also tried to find out whether any of those legal costs had been recovered by the States from the opposing party. P&R refused to answer this question directly citing a legal exemption under the FOI law relating to the release of confidential information.
“A settlement regarding costs has been reached between the Policy & Resources Committee and the tenants of Fermain Beach Café,” said a committee spokesperson.
“The Committee considers this agreement to be a pragmatic and responsible resolution to the matter. As is standard practice for arrangements of this nature, however, the specific terms of the settlement are confidential.”