Les Pas has plans for housing on the foreshore

Listeners heard how individuals behind Les Pas Holdings could be pursued for legal costs by the States.

The Policy and Resources Committee is proposing to transfer land worth �10m to Les Pas as an out-of-court settlement over the dispute about who owns much of St Helier's foreshore.

The issue of legal costs was just one of the matters raised during the phone-in with guests Senator Frank Walker and Senator Ted Vibert.

I would like to think that my committee does come out of it with credit Senator Frank Walker

Senator Walker, President of the Policy and Resources Committee, said if the States won the court case, it would not be able to seek costs from Les Pas itself.

But he added there was the possibility individuals and firms behind the company could be pursued for legal costs, though he stressed there was no guarantee such an action would be successful.

He also revealed that he had been in touch with Les Pas to see if there could be an extension to the time the States has to reach a decision on the proposed out-of-court settlement.

However, Senator Walker has also said his committee will be shown to have taken the right action in time.

He said: "I would like to think that, overall, my Policy and Resources Committee does come out of it with credit.

"Yes, we should and could have done things in better in terms of being more rigorous in dealing with the question of members' interests.

"But what we could have done nothing. We could have stayed quiet on the matter and just gone to court, but we would have been in dereliction of our duty.

"But we have done our duty in bringing it forward, and I think history will judge us in that way."

The States is currently expected to make a decision by 30 September.