Relief and anger as foreshore refund row settled

Julian Mallinson has faced a nine-year battle over claims his property encroached onto the foreshore

A man has said he is "relieved" after finding out he and a neighbour will be refunded over a property row.

Julian Mallinson and Alan Luce were fined more than £50,000 as their homes "encroached" onto Jersey's foreshore.

In 2015, the government started fining people who had ladders from their garden down to the beach after the Crown gifted the land to the island.

However, infrastructure minister Andy Jehan has authorised refunds to Mr Mallinson and Mr Luce.

The foreshore is an area from the top of the sea wall down to the beach which lies between the low and high water mark.

Before 2015, the land belonged to the Crown and residents who had homes backing onto the area would build ladders down to the beach.

But after Queen Elizabeth II donated the land to Jersey that year, building structures on the sea wall including ladders could be deemed as encroaching on the area, leading to people getting fined.

The land was donated to Jersey by the Crown in 2015

The Jersey Complaints Board ruled in 2018 that Mr Mallinson and Mr Luce had been subject to "unjust" behaviour by Jersey Property Holdings (JPH).

After trying to put their homes up for sale, JPH told the duo they were encroaching onto the land, leading to Mr Luce paying £34,387 in compensation and legal costs and Mr Mallinson paying £25,725.

The Complaints Board said JPH had adopted a "take it or leave it stance" towards the men and it was decided their complaints could be reconsidered.

Mr Mallinson said the situation had "effectively blighted" his and Mr Luce's properties over the past nine years.

He said: "I’m thankful and relieved but also angry that it has taken nine years for this saga to be resolved."

Deputy Carolyn Labey said lessons must be learnt over the foreshore encroachment saga

Deputy Carolyn Labey, who in 2020 put forward the proposal which established a clearer policy on how the government dealt with encroachments, said the compensation to her constituents in this case was "deserved".

The Grouville and St Martin deputy added that there should be "lessons learnt" from Mr Mallinson and Mr Luce's cases.

Ms Labey, who is now the international development minister, said: "Hopefully nothing like this will happen in the manner it did."