The Joe’s River, St Joseph access saga will come to a head with a three-day trial in November.
Yesterday when the matter of Victor Lewis and Christopher Oliver versus Ullswater Investment Ltd – owner of the Edgewater property that is being developed – went before Supreme Court No. 10 for case management and pre-trial review, it was set down to be heard November 10 to 12.
The issue of the application to discharge the injunction which has blocked construction of the contentious concrete walls on the Edgewater property did not come up for argument, meaning the injunction stays in place until the trial.
Joe’s River Bridge has been the centre of a dispute between residents and users of the area who noticed in March 2023 that construction of the developer’s multimillion-dollar residence included columns at the mouth of the bridge which would block a path that had been used from time immemorial. It gave access to the popular adjoining Joe’s River in general and the leisurely fishing area of Teacup And Saucer.
The trial will hear the testimony of witnesses from both sides, including Australian developer Richard Hains, of Ullswater, as to the existence of the prescriptive right of way.
More than 20 residents and others from the Bathsheba community filed witness statements in support of the claim of a prescriptive right of way to Joe’s River, and Tea Cup And Saucer.
The case was before Justice Patrick Wells yesterday with attorney Senator Gregory Nicholls appearing on behalf of the claimants, Lewis and Oliver, while attorneys Faye Finisterre and Noah Haynes appeared for the defendant, Ullswater Investment Ltd.
The matter has ended
up in court after much back and forth between residents and the developer. At one point, Cultural Ambassador The Most Honourable Anthony Gabby Carter and other interested parties joined residents in a protest action calling for the public pathway to be unblocked. The aggrieved residents managed to secure an injunction to halt that part of the construction work involving the columns.
Ullswater Investments Ltd has been the owner of the Edgewater property since 2015 and had offered to make provision for public access to the two areas, and an undertaking not to build an already approved structure on its private land in order to preserve the unrestricted and natural views from the bridge over which pedestrians and pedal cyclists “enjoyed an undisputed right to pass”.
It was reported that there were “demands” Ullswater provide infrastructure – including special facilities for the disabled – in addition to public access over the private property in places where no such access historically existed.
Attorney General Dale Marshall, who is also parliamentary representative for St Joseph, had recused himself from the matter as Attorney General, and was involved in the attempt to broker a deal, initially indicating that a settlement was on the horizon. ( AC)
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