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What is a matter of national importance?

The Environment Minister, who uses "national importance" as a criteria for allowing developers to by-pass planning restrictions, refuses to tell us.

Yet the lack of public discussion and consultation - indeed, the real contempt with which public opinion is being treated - is the real issue of national importance here.

There is an unprecedented surge in development right now, and an unprecedented surge in developer requests for Special Development Orders and other exceptions to normal planning rules. These aren't ordinary development but face-changing development.

If approved - on the basis of a "national importance" that has not been publicly discussed or defined - they will change the way Bermuda looks and will undoubtedly be used as a precedent for future building.

Dramatically higher buildings in Hamilton, and hotel towers and road tunnels on the South Shore, will change the face of two of the most scenic and beloved parts of Bermuda.

The citizens of this country deserve to be taken seriously. So those who are advocating these changes - the developers and the Cabinet Ministers - have a responsibility to treat the ordinary Bermudian citizen with much more respect, and much less condescension, than has been the case so far. Among other things, that means:

n Stop insulting people by telling them that "sustained development doesn't mean no development." Even the most enthusiastic environmentalist is only debating what is appropriate development, and where it should be located. Deal with the real issues.

n Engage in honest, respectful debate, not the kind of condescending dismissals like this one from Hamilton Mayor Sutherland Madeiros, as reported by The Royal Gazette: "If you try to restrict the height of buildings, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will look back and say how short-sighted you were."

n Stop thinking you know better than the citizens. Developers like Sir John Swan, and Philip Butterfield of the Bank of Bermuda should try to convince citizens that height restrictions are outdated, rather than unilaterally condemning them and demand exceptions for their own projects. These may be wise men - they may even be right. But they should not decide Bermuda's planning policy.

n Keep planning and zoning regulations updated, to ensure that development - especially of large buildings - is done according to public planning policy and not by exceptions to planning policy.

n In a time of dramatic change, don't push people too hard or too far. Don't insult them by making them drive through a tunnel on the scenic South Shore, for example, so private developers can make money off of uninterrupted lawns stretching down to the sea. This is our country, too.

n Don't hide information, or rush anything through planning. The argument that drawings of the Southland hotel proposal were "copyright" and couldn't be published or broadcast was an outrageous insult to Bermudian citizens, who not only have a right but an obligation to be informed. (The fact that a drawing was released the day after the deadline for objections made the developer's seem even more cynical.)

n Unless there's a genuine national emergency, don't use Special Development Orders. It's not an emergency, and everybody knows it. It's insulting Bermudians (at least, those without a share in the proceeds) to be told that developing commercial property for private profit is a matter of national importance. We already have the highest per capita income in the world, and over-employment is so serious that a major portion of the workforce has to be imported.

If the planning process is slow, outdated or flawed in other ways, Government should fix it, not circumvent it.

If we need to change the size and scale of building we allow, or how we restrict building in certain areas, we should set about doing so. Developers and Cabinet Ministers and Mayors should have an important say in how we go forward.

But the strongest and loudest and most respected voice should be that of the people. That is the real issue of national importance here. Our country can thrive and be happy, even with office blocks that are slightly smaller than the developers envisage, and new hotels that don't stretch over scenic public roads. But it cannot thrive and be happy when the opinions of its citizens are treated with contempt.[[In-content Ad]]

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