THE owners of the business operating out of the Lido have been asked to attend court tomorrow having been served with an eviction notice just before Christmas.
The Havre des Pas Lido has been at the centre of a long-running saga following controversy over who will take over the running of the site.
Tender proceedings were restarted last month following an independent review which found there have been failings in the initial process.
Now, Marcus Calvani, co-owner of the BeServed Group which has operated from the venue for a decade, said he was “extremely disappointed” to be asked to attend court on Wednesday “in relation to a request for formal eviction”.
When announcing, in the States Chamber last month, that the tender process would be restarted, Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan confirmed that the government intended to secure vacant possession of the site by 25 December in order to “to allow the process to be properly concluded and a lease awarded to a new party”.
However, Mr Calvani said that he had received “mixed messaging” from the landlord – the States-owned Jersey Property Holdings – as to the handover process after he had left some of the fittings in place while the dispute was still being resolved.
Mr Calvani claimed that the fittings were all temporary and would in theory need to be removed before he formally vacated – but that both the potential new tenants were interested in taking over the furnishings.
The JEP understands that government has interpreted his licence differently – and that the venue was to be handed over immediately and empty.
Mr Calvani alleged that Jersey Property Holdings were aware of his hopes to sell the furnishings and added that he believed JPH were also aware of his desire to leave the venue.
He had previously referred to his time there as “nine years of hell” and he had no intention of staying longer, he said.
“I had such hope, in December, that whichever future entity would be taking over the operations of this site, that I was finally going to be able to draw a line for ourselves,” Mr Calvani added.
The controversy over the future of the Lido has centred on the government’s decision to award commercial operator First Point the contract to manage and operate the facility, which includes pools, steps to the pool, a sundeck, a café, showers, toilets and changing rooms.
Community group Love Our Lido had initially been given preferred bidder status but subsequently had this revoked after negotiations with the government collapsed.
The subsequent fallout led to protests in the Royal Square and Deputy David Warr bringing a proposition which, if approved, would require ministers to interrupt the tender process, offer a lease to Love Our Lido and promise to give them £170,000 a year for the site’s maintenance.
The proposition, as it stands, is still active and due to be debated later this month, although this may be impacted by the outcome of the ongoing tender process, which is due to be concluded at the end of January.
