Field 764, St.Peter:-purchase.

FIELD 764, ST. PETER: PURCHASE _______________

Lodged au Greffe on 3rd July 2001 by the Harbours and Airport Committee

______________________________

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES GREFFE

180             2 0 0 1    P . 9 6          

Price code: B

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion -

( a ) to approve the purchase from Mrs. Sylvia Mary Fennessy, née Egré, of Field 764, St. Peter, measurin

4½ vergées as shown on drawing No.  1639/01/27, required to form part of Jersey Airport, for the sum of £50,000, with the public being responsible for the payment of Mrs.  Fennessy's reasonable legal costs and expenses;

  (b ) to approve the purchase from Mr.  Richard John Egré of an area of land situated north of Field  764, St. Pete

measuring 10 perch 12 feet as shown on drawing No. 1639/01/27, required to form part of Jersey Airport, fo the sum of £2,780, with the public being responsible for the payment of all Mr. Egré's legal costs;

  (c ) to approve the payment of compensation to Mr.  Edward Egré, the tenant of Field  764, St.  Peter, in the sum o

£12,500;

  (d ) to authorise the Attorney General and the Greffier of the States to pass on behalf of the public any contracts

which might be found necessary to pass in connection with the said property referred to in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), above and of all interests therein;

  (e ) to authorise the payment or discharge of the expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition of the said

property and in all interests therein referred to in paragraphs  (a), (b) and (c) above from the Committee's Trading Fund.

HARBOURS AND AIRPORT COMMITTEE

Note: T he Finance and Economics Committee notes that the proposed purchase price includes a considerable premium

over the market value for the agricultural value of the land, but supports the proposition subject to all costs of acquisition and the subsequent cost of constructing the replacement footpath being contained within the Airport Trading Fund.

Report

For some years the Harbours and Airport Committee has wished to alter the footpath which runs across the eastern part of Jersey Airport following the route of Rue des Landes. Part of the road was extinguished in 1972 by Order of the Royal Court and, subsequently, reduced to a footpath (which is owned by the public) by the Committee of the day. Visits by Inspectors of the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 1996 and 1998 confirmed that the footpath should be re-routed without delay, because the footpath in its present position infringes both the Take-off Climb Surface (TOCS) for runway  09 and the Instrument Landing System (ILS) localiser critical area. Additionally, it does not allow the declaration of a full Runway End Safety Area (RESA) and this combination of factors would lead to serious operational restrictions. Persons using the present footpath are at risk from low-flying aircraft or from an aircraft running off the end of the runway.

The Committee wishes to re-route the footpath around the eastern perimeter of the Airport and in order to do so needs to purchase Field  764, St.  Peter and include it within the Airport boundary.

Terms and conditions have been agreed with Mrs.  Sylvia Mary Fennessy, née Egré, wife of Cornelius Michael James Fennessy, in relation to the acquisition of Field 764 which lies to the north-east of the runway at Jersey Airport. The field measures 4½ vergées, and a sale price of £50,000 has been agreed for this field, which is vital to the re-routing of the footpath. In addition to the consideration, the Public will pay for all reasonable legal costs and expenses incurred by Mrs.  Fennessy in relation to this transaction. All the land acquired will remain part of the Airport premises with the exception of the land being used for the re-routing of the footpath. It is agreed that no above-ground building or structure will be constructed or established on the land (with the exception of reasonable security fencing).

Terms and conditions have also been agreed with Mr.  Richard John Egré, owner of a small piece of land to the north of Field  764, which measures approximately 10  perch 12 feet for the acquisition price o£f2,780, with all terms and conditions being the same as with Mrs. Fennessy except that all legal costs incurred by Mr.  R.J.  Egré in relation to this field will be paid by the Public.

In addition to the above, a compensation payment has been agreed with Mr. Edward Egré, the present tenant of Field 764, in accordance with gross margins per vergée for early potatoes (this information was supplied by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department); the sum of £12,500 will be payable in relation to the three remaining years of Mr.  E.  Egr'és lease agreement. Mr.  Egré has requested that the sum he is due to receive is set against his Agricultural and Fisheries Committee Loan.

A recent St.  Peter's Parish Assembly rejected the Committee's offer to construct the re-routed footpath at its own expense and then give the fonds of the footpath to the Parish in perpetuity. Notwithstanding that rejection, it is the Committee's intention to use its best endeavours to secure the re-routing of the footpath but, as it involves an exchange of land which needs to be agreed by the Parish Assembly, that will take place in the future.

It remains the wish of the Committee to construct the footpath around the eastern edge of Jersey Airport as a safe pedestrian and cycle route. The Committee is indebted to Mrs.  Fennessy for agreeing to sell Field  764 and to Mr.  R.J.  Egré an Mr.  E.  Egré for being joined in the sale, and wishes to recognise the public-spiritedness of these members of the Egré family.

There are no implications for the manpower resources of the States, while the financial implications are as outlined in the proposition.