Court proceedings will be dropped after the Policy & Resources Committee agreed to pay the family an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the tens of thousands of pounds.
The Allez family launched a legal case against the States when they were forced to spend a five-figure sum to reclaim their home, a former German bunker known as Maison de la Guerre, after the States sold part of it without telling them, having accepted for decades that the family were its rightful owners.
P&R president Lindsay de Sausmarez personally intervened in the matter just before Christmas after becoming increasingly concerned about the States’ previously entrenched position and the potential cost to taxpayers of funding protracted litigation.
‘We feel a huge sense of relief that this whole sorry mess has been brought to a close,’ said the Allez family.
‘For many years we feared losing our home. All that avoidable stress has been settled because Deputy de Sausmarez took the trouble to come and speak to us and have sensible discussions face-to-face over a couple of days.
‘She showed us sympathy and respect in what were difficult and emotional discussions for our family and she was also very professional representing the interests of the public.’
It is understood that the agreement, signed late last week, resolves all legal matters which were still outstanding following the controversial 2019 sale of Fort Richmond, which shares a boundary with Maison de le Guerre.
Prior to Deputy de Sausmarez’s intervention, senior politicians had insisted on defending the decision to include the southern portion of the family’s bunker home in the sale of the fort, despite the existence of numerous documents dating from 1947 until just weeks before that sale in which States officials accepted that incomplete boundary drawings needed to be redrawn to clarify that the whole of the bunker belonged to George Allez.
He and his family felt particularly let down because the States allegedly reneged on a land deal made in 2013. The States secured from the family clear ownership of a key part of the access track to Fort Richmond, but the other half of the exchange, which was meant to give the family secure ownership of their home, was never completed.
‘Deal is in best interests of family and taxpayers’
Deputy de Sausmarez spoke yesterday of an amicable compromise to close a matter which her committee inherited when it was elected in July.
‘It was great to be able to talk directly with the Allez family and agree a way forward that works for everyone,’ she said.
‘The arrangement is also in the best interests of taxpayers, not least because it removes the risks associated with any type of litigation. As is common with legal arrangements of this nature, the terms of the settlement are confidential, but I can reassure islanders that as well as being fair to the family it also represents a good deal for the public purse.
‘I am very grateful to the Allez family for their willingness to engage so that we were able to bring this to a constructive conclusion together. I’m conscious of how much stress this matter has caused them over the years, so on a personal level I’m particularly glad it has been amicably resolved and good relations restored.’
The Guernsey Press broke the story behind the years-long dispute when it came to a head in 2024, as claims and counter-claims were filed with the court, the police became involved, and the Allez family reached desperation in their bid to retain their home.
‘We were suffering in silence until the Guernsey Press publicised our story and brought it out into the open,’ they said.
‘The paper kept asking the States questions to get all the information out, and every new story generated overwhelming messages of support from the public.
‘We know this outcome would have been impossible without the Guernsey Press and the Guernsey public and we would like to thank them.’
The family also thanked former deputy Andrew Taylor, who consistently supported them and argued their case publicly and in the States before leaving politics at last year’s general election.