Huge court win for Jersey as £100 million Waterfront lawsuit fails

Friday 26 September 2014

Jersey’s Court of Appeal has thrown out a £100 million claim by the former Waterfront developers who were removed from the project by ministers after a dispute over the finances needed to carry out the work.

Irish developer Harcourt’s lawsuit against the States has been struck out just four months after the Royal Court ruled that they had a case.

The developers had claimed that they were missing out on the £350 million scheme that the States had agreed to have them carry out. But the States’ case was that they failed to come up with a contractually-required bond to prove that they had the money to carry out the ambitious Esplanade Square development – a huge plan to cover the flat car park on the Esplanade with office blocks, sink a road underneath it, and provide hundreds of underground parking spaces and lots of public open spaces.

Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf – in whose name the lawsuit was being defended – praised Solicitor General Howard Sharp QC for his handling of a complex, and potentially disastrous case.

Senator Ozouf said: "I wish to warmly thank the Solicitor General Mr Howard Sharp QC for representing me in this case of considerable public importance. His advice has been consistent and of the highest quality. He has once again showed that the ministers, the States and public of Jersey are extremely well served by him.”

The lawsuit has been rumbling away for some time, but the news that it has been thrown out will be welcomed by ministers.

The future of the Waterfront development remains in question, after taking another hit earlier this year when a major finance firm, the Royal Bank of Canada, decided to go with a new Dandara office block by the Grand Hotel instead of shifting to the Waterfront. RBC had been one of the key “anchor” tenants that the States of Jersey Development Company – who took over the scheme from Harcourt – were hoping would kickstart the project.