Lord Coutanche Court, Seaton Place, St. Helier - Seaton Lane – proposed sale

STATES OF JERSEY

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LORD COUTANCHE COURT, SEATON PLACE, ST.  HELIER: SEATON LANE – PROPOSED SALE

Lodged au Greffe on 18th May 2004 by the Housing Committee

STATES GREFFE

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

( a) to approve the sale of the road known as Seaton Lane, Seaton Place, St.  Helier as shown on

Drawing No. 991/03/67 to Spectrum (Jersey) Limited for a sum of £6,000 with each party responsible for its respective legal costs;

(b ) to agree that Spectrum (Jersey) Limited will pay compensation to the Public in the sum of £10,000

following the relocation of the Town Brook and adjacent wall at the rear of Lord Coutanche Court;

(c ) to authorise the Greffier of the States to sign the said drawing on behalf of the States, and the

Attorney General and the Greffier of the States to pass, on behalf of the Public, any such contracts as may be necessary; and

(c ) to authorise the Treasurer of the States to receive any payment to the Public as it becomes due.

HOUSING COMMITTEE

Notes: The Finance and Economics Committee's comments are to follow.

REPORT

Seaton Lane was purchased by the Public of the Island of Jersey as part of the site acquired for the construction of the development known as Lord Coutanche Court, Seaton Place, St.  Helier. The lane is in a poor state of repair with the cobbles having sunk in certain places. The lane currently provides access to properties of a commercial nature in private ownership. It has also been used heavily for access in recent months by Spectrum (Jersey) Limited.

The lane provides a significant repair liability for the Housing Committee and as such Spectrum (Jersey) Limited has approached the Public requesting that the lane be transferred to their ownership to enable them to carry out the necessary maintenance during the construction of the new development.

The Committee is of the opinion that holding the lane in the Public ownership is of little future benefit as it would form part of the development access onto Seaton Lane and be predominantly used by owners of that development. This is supported by the Department of Property Services.

Terms have been agreed for the sale of the lane to Spectrum (Jersey) Limited for a consideration of £6,000, which it is felt reflects the limited value of this lane.

A part of the development of the site Spectrum (Jersey) Limited required the Town Brook to be diverted and the necessary permissions were required in order to allow this work to be carried out by the Public Services Department. In order to relocate the brook the wall to the rear of the Housing site known as Lord Coutanche Court had to be removed, the works carried out, and the wall replaced. Due to the prejudicial impact to Lord Coutanche Court, the inconvenience to the tenants and the benefit this work gave the developer, it was agreed a consideration of £10,000 would be paid to the Public in order for this work to be carried out. The sale of the lane and relocation of the brook were combined for simplicity.

In order to protect the Public against any value Seaton Lane may unlock in the surrounding area from future developments the following conditions have been agreed with Spectrum (Jersey) Limited –

(1 ) T h e access and egress rights and interest of existing owners, leaseholders and any other party with

an interest in, over or on the road at any time in the future should not be restricted without written notification no less than seven working days in advance of the closure or as dictated in any other agreement. If the roads are to be closed on a permanent basis for any reason those parties those parties must be provided with a suitable, reasonable and adequate alternative to access their particular property or interest.

(2 ) A n y future access rights granted over the road known as Seaton Lane by the Dandara Group or

any associated persons and sold for a financial sum will be apportioned equally on a 50/50 basis with the Public of the Island, such sum to be agreed between 2 independent Chartered Valuation Surveyors at the time regarding the marriage value attributable to the access right.

It should be noted that any alteration or change to Seaton Lane would require permission of the Environment and Pubic Services Committee under the Island Planning Law.

It has been agreed that each party is to bear its own legal fees and there are no additional manpower implications to the States arising from the Proposition.