Press Release
A high-risk venture: A press statement by UBP Shadow Minister of the Environment, Cole Simons
Category: United Bermuda PartyUnited Bermuda Party
Hamilton, Bermuda: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 -
The United Bermuda Party believes the Brown Government should halt the process of approval for Southlands hotel development until critical concerns about its impact on the environment are answered satisfactorily.
We have studied the plans and can only conclude that the push for Southlands is driven by the Premier’s agenda for a ‘Big Announcement’ prior to an election.
The Southlands plans, such as they are, contain so many unanswered questions about the impact of the development that there can be no other explanation.
It is nothing short of extraordinary that this development is on the cusp of formal approval by the Brown Government. What we are witnessing is a high-risk venture that puts politics before the environment.
We note with concern that the Environment Minister did not first issue an SDO in principle, which would require the applicants to do certain things before being given final approval.
An in-principle SDO would also give the public and the Development Applications Board an opportunity to render opinion on a “final” plan. The fact that the public has been shut out of meaningful participation in this decision is disrespectful.
We consider the draft SDO circulated a few weeks ago by the Minister as nothing more than a stay of execution. As a former Planning Director said, the draft SDO in effect gives “the whole store away” without requiring detailed commitments from the developers. Indeed, he said, and we agree, that Jumeirah’s plans look more like artist impressions than detailed drawings.
On the question of the drawings, we have to ask whether they were put before the Architects Advisory Panel, which is one of the statutory bodies that the Environment Minister can consult in considering building applications. The Jumeirah design is unusual, huge and definitely not in the Bermuda character architecturally. Does the panel agree that the Jumeirah design is acceptable?
The lack of detail on crucial aspects of the Southlands development is very disturbing. No one investigating the Southlands plan will be able to determine whether:
- Satisfactory plans are in place for sewage treatment and disposal, the hotel road system or landscaping and woodland management; or whether
- Procedures have been enacted to ensure that a Southlands environmental impact statement will succeed in protecting the delicate south shore environment; or whether
- Belco’s ability to meet the demands of a new hotel has been factored into planning. Will the hotel require its own energy plant?
We are also concerned that there is no timetable attached to the building of staff housing. This creates the possibility that foreign hotel workers brought in to staff Jumeirah Southlands may create a new wave of competition for Bermudians looking for affordable housing.
All of this strikes us as a rush job, which needlessly endangers the environment and sound planning going forward.
We call on the government to take their foot off the gas pedal, ease up and stop putting politics before the environment. Let’s get this project on track for a smart decision-making that includes the public.
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