Politicians back £5 million bid to return former Grève De Lecq café and car park to public use

States members in Jersey have backed plans for the government to buy the former Grève De Lecq café and car park earmarked to be redeveloped into a four-bedroom luxury home.

The former Café Romany site was sold by its previous owners in 2020, with developers given planning permission in January 2022 to redevelop the site and create a four-bedroom home and 100-seat eatery.

The property has since been put on the market, for £5 million in its current state, or £11 million with the proposed luxury home built there.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham, who put forward a proposition asking the government to enter negotiations to buy the site, said: "I'm concerned that if we don't act now, we could lose it.

"My proposition simply asks the Treasury Minister and the government to go away over the summer, negotiate a purchase price if they can and come back to the assembly as soon as possible for approval."

The property currently lying empty and derelict and is completely shut off to the public restricting access to parking, and causing recurring problems for users of the bay.

John Vautier owns another café at the beach. He said: "There's nothing wrong with things being sold but I think the government now needs to look carefully at the whole island and earmark places that are going to be lost.

"You could say that if I sold Colleen's Cafe to a private owner and that turned into a house, there could be no catering down here at all, so some things should never change."

32 politicians backed Deputy Farnham's proposition while 10 voted against it. One States member abstained.

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