Omnibus director Charles McHugh said its goal had always been to get the development built as quickly as possible.
‘For approximately four years, Omnibus devoted substantial time, professional expertise and private money to progressing the redevelopment of this important site,’ he said.
‘We engaged architects, engineers, consultants and other specialists, and incurred costs of approximately £750,000 in seeking to bring forward a viable housing and regeneration scheme.’
It had done this under a formal exclusivity and confidentiality contract with the Coop and the Omnibus case, now proceeding through the Royal Court, is that this agreement remained in force and that, the Coop and the States negotiated a fresh deal without the company’s knowledge.
Papers filed with the court state that the terms of the agreement included that it would remain in place until ‘the completion of the conveyance’ and could be varied only in writing and with the backing of all parties.
‘Omnibus made sustained efforts over a long period to progress the development and resolve matters without litigation,’ said Mr McHugh.
‘Having invested considerable time and money in reliance upon a written commercial agreement, we believe it is both reasonable and necessary to ask the court to determine whether that agreement was honoured.’
He stressed that the court claim was not intended to prevent the Leale’s Yard development and that throughout Omnibus had wanted to see the site regenerated and new homes delivered ‘as quickly as reasonably possible’.
The development of Leale’s Yard is now one of five ‘super priorities’ for the States in this political term.
Clearance of the site is due to start next month, and plans for flood defences for the area are being considered within the States.
The timeline for homes to be built and people to move in at Leale’s Yard has consistently slipped. Initially it was hoped that might be in spring 2025, but by February 2024 that was looking more like the start of 2027.
Six months later it became evident that work would not even start until late 2026 and new plans were submitted to reduce the number of homes to 296.
In early 2025 further delays were announced and then issues around how many homes would be purchased by the States, and for how much, became so entangled that the project was stopped. And then the wrangling over the site started in earnest, before it was announced in July that the States had agreed to buy, and the deal went through the following month.
CI Coop chief operating officer Mark Cox said it would not comment on the specifics of the claim.
‘However, we do not agree with the allegations being made and intend to robustly defend the proceedings through the proper legal process,’ he said.
‘We do not intend to comment further while proceedings are ongoing.’