Parliament set to debate under-fire SDO today

The Tucker’s Point Resort Residential Development Special Development Order 2011 is on today’s Orders list for the House of Assembly.

The SDO was listed last week but it remained unheard due to the Budget.

Asked if any Government MPs opposed it, Alex Scott, former Premier and Government backbencher, said: “Not to my knowledge.

Concerns

“The [Environment] Minister [Walter Roban] has explained it is just a matter to go before Planning, so that has satisfied most Members.

“We have concerns about the environment and should the Minister take it to the next step it is certainly something in which I would be mindful of what the public have said.

“We would also see if the developers have amended their plans based on those opinions.

“But the matter is not really at the stage where it is seeking permission to go ahead.”

Mr. Scott was the MP behind the move to relocate the Jumeirah Southlands resort project from Southlands to brownfield at Morgan’s Point.

Concerning this latest SDO, he said: “It is not an automatic go-ahead but allows the developers to see if their bankers are satisfied with the current position.”

He said the proposals would have to gain Planning approval.

He added: “We’re not really at the stage where we’re voting for it to go ahead or not, which is advantageous because it allows the public to voice their interests and concerns.”

An online petition called In Objection to the Tucker’s Point Special Development Order has almost 350 signatures. It highlights the “ecologically sensitive” nature of the land and the social history — the area was “once been home to a large number of black Bermudians and had been taken from them forcibly”.

The petition asks Government to rescind the SDO.

Tucker’s Point believes expansion is necessary to recoup a bank loan and secure the resort’s financial viability during the recession.

Government has said the resort’s future is important to Bermuda’s tourism product.

The Parliamentary debate on the SDO is a move towards greater transparency.

Government said: “The SDO will be considered fully by Parliament and the public and granted only after being subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and given approval by Parliament.”

The developers must also apply for final planning approval. Stuart Hayward, chairman of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce, said: “This is the first time to my knowledge an SDO is to be debated in Parliament. We endorse this but one swallow does not a summer make.”

Mr. Hayward believes that for MPs to discuss such a “complex” issue during Budget week is “just wrong”.

He called on the owners of Tucker’s Point to disclose their financial accounts ahead of the debate.

Price

He said: “Bermudians are being asked to give up tens of acres of conservation space for residential development.

“For us to be paying that kind of price we need to know far more detail about the status of Tucker’s Point.

“The Government should have all of Tucker’s Point’s financials and they should be shared with MPs — there should be a clear understanding of why they need this [development].”