A land developer is hoping a judge will settle a 12-year-old dispute over a St George’s home, and allow him to finally sell it.The wrangle between Alex Swan from Progressive Realty and Lisa Hollis, of Wellington Slip Road, St George’s, is over a house Ms Hollis alleges was illegally built in her front yard.According to Ms Hollis, in an interview given to The Royal Gazette 12 years ago, she arrived home on May 4, 2000 to discover that her front yard had been torn up.She said her family had lived on the Wellington Slip Road property for 61 years and the land belonged to her grandmother.She parked her car across the driveway to stop excavation vehicles accessing the site, and said she had rights to the land, and the right of way across it.However, Mr Swan said he owned the land, had planning approval, and had every right to build there.The spat hit the headlines at the time, and both sides launched legal action over the house that same month.Mr Swan got an injunction against Ms Hollis and completed building the house, containing a two-bedroom apartment and a one-bedroom apartment, in 2002. At that point it was valued at $1.4 million.According to his lawyer, Rick Woolridge, he has been unable to sell it due to the ongoing dispute, and market prices have plummeted since it was completed. He has opted to rent it out instead.The then Chief Justice, Richard Ground dismissed Ms Hollis’s claim to the land in January 2012 “for want of prosecution”.He noted that the legal action was, by then “inordinately old”. He also gave a brief overview of the complicated history.The last court hearing was in May 2003, when Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller refused Mr Swan’s request that she strike out Ms Hollis’s claim to the property,According to the Chief Justice, nothing then came of the intention to have a trial on the issue, despite various documents filed with the courts over the years.He criticised Ms Hollis — who still lives next door to the disputed land — for not pushing ahead with her court action.“Having taken up the sword [she] was, in my view, under an obligation to pursue her claim with vigour, which she did not do,” he said, throwing out her claim and awarding costs to Mr Swan.“Where that leaves the action, I do not know,” added Mr Justice Ground, saying it would be up to Mr Swan what to do next.Mr Swan’s next action turned out to be an application made to Mrs Justice Wade-Miller earlier this week to settle the issue of the right of way over the property.Lawyer Mr Woolridge argued that, since the ownership of the land has been settled, that must mean Mr Swan has the right of way.Irma Burrows, of Progressive Realty, attended the hearing on behalf of Mr Swan.She told The Royal Gazette afterwards: “We want a firm answer over the right of way. We want to get it settled and then sell the house.”Mr Woolridge added: “This has caused an issue with Mr Swan being able to sell the house, and now he’s faced with selling in a declining market.”He said of the latest application before the judge: “The issue before the court is our application to have her defence to our claim to the right of way struck out on the basis that it does not give a defence to our claim and is unsustainable.”Mr Swan did not wish to comment, according to his lawyer.Lawyer Eugene Johnston, who represented Ms Hollis, defended her claim during the court hearing, but declined to comment afterwards.Efforts to reach Ms Hollis for comment proved unsuccessful.Mrs Justice Wade-Miller indicated that she will make a ruling at a later date, which is yet to be fixed.