FEW islanders will criticise the Environment Department this week for having approved an application by the Castel constables and douzaine to tidy up the disputed Cobo car park.

On the contrary. Since the States decided in 1974 that feudal dues could not be justified in a modern society, anyone attempting to claim ownership via a company having acquired the Fief de Carteret merely runs the risk of being labelled a chancer.

That said, Environment has to operate within the law and cannot issue or withhold planning permission on the basis of who it thinks is the good guy.

For that reason, the department has an obligation to be more forthcoming about the reasons why it granted planning permission for this disputed piece of land.

It says that on very rare occasions when ownership of land cannot conclusively be confirmed, third party applications may be made although the applicant must declare that they have made all reasonable attempts to identify the owner but has been unable to do so.

In this case, there is a very vocal ‘owner’ but Environment is, in effect, saying it does not accept his claim, but has not said why.

Equally, all the evidence points at this being property of the Crown so a letter to Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA might have been part of the ‘all reasonable attempts’ to establish ownership.

This newspaper has little time for the man who purports to be owner of Cobo car park but unless Environment wants to be accused of States-sponsored confiscation of private property it needs to demonstrate why it believes his claim is bogus.

It is unlikely that the parish would risk ratepayers’ money by exposing them to the risk of a legal challenge which suggests either that ownership really is not, after all, an issue or else – more likely with Crown land – the taxpayer would fund any defence via HM Procureur.

Does that imply Environment’s position is based on having more legal firepower than the ‘owner’?

While Planning has come to the right decision, the absence of explanation leaves it feeling decidedly wrong.