A States report says that it would now be ‘morally wrong’ to try to profit from the land. In 1971, the States agreed to buy part of the foreshore between Pontac and La Rocque from the Queen for a nominal sum of £100 to build a sea wall.
It was decided at the time that the home owners whose properties bordered the beach would be ‘ceded’ the land reclaimed on the landward side of the wall. In the next two years, they were also encouraged by the States to extend their gardens before the necessary contracts to define the boundary between their gardens and public land were drawn up.
It has now been revealed that the civil servants responsible neither bought the land from the Crown nor drew up any contracts. That failure has left both the States and the property owners in an uncertain position.
Full story in Friday’s JEP
