States defends decision to put Guernsey beauty spot cafe up for tender

Guernsey's government is releasing more details about the Fermain Café agreement, following a public backlash and petition to keep the current tenant in place.

The Fermain Café has been leased to its current tenant, Belmiro de Freitas, since 2003, on a 21-year term which ends on 31 October this year.

The States says it agreed to extend his lease into 2038, if Mr de Freitas completed site improvements that he had proposed a number of years ago.

The government says these have not been carried out and that, all things considered, it is 'the fairest approach' to offer other parties the opportunity to put forward expressions of interest for plans for the iconic location.

But, it says is not opposed to renewing the lease to Mr de Freitas, who has expressed his desire to stay.

An online petition has also been launched in his support:

'The current tenant has improved the facility beyond belief and should be allowed to renew their lease taking into consideration all the improvements they have made.'

Mark Ogier from the States Property Unit says they are aware of the public interest:

“A number of concerned members of the community have been contacting my team, the Policy & Resources Committee and their Deputies, with questions about the decision to invite applicants for the lease of the Fermain Café.

We have sought to treat the tenant fairly throughout our relationship, as we would any of our tenants.

We are also obliged to ensure we are doing the best thing possible on behalf of the community with the important sites we look after, and that means that at appropriate times we need to go out to the market and see what other prospective applicants would put forward.

This should not be seen as a criticism of any current tenant, it is just good commercial practice."