A Special Development Order has been granted for 66 luxury holiday apartments at Coco Reef.

Government says the SDO was approved due to the "importance" of the development to the Island's tourism product — even though tourists will only occupy 'Coco Villas' for six months of the year.

Resort owner John Jefferis yesterday said the SDO was needed due to the volatile nature of today's financial markets, but the Bermuda National Trust claims another fast-tracked development on the South Shore will only lead to loss of natural habitats and open space.

The Trust objected to the development encroaching on woodland and the coastline, although Mr. Jefferis says the aim is to create a "lush tropical woodland in which various species of plants and animals can flourish".

Dorcas Roberts, Director of Preservation, however has questioned the granting of a third SDO within a year for a major resort development along the South Shore. It follows SDOs for the Grand Atlantic Resort and Residences and the proposed Southlands development. Mrs. Roberts said: "In light of the number of SDOs that have been granted in recent years, of major concern to the National Trust is the impact of these developments on the Island as a whole.

"We believe that the debate on the use of SDOs extends further than any single project and it is only ever possible to fully understand the impact of these developments when considered in total.

"The type of developments approved by SDO are typically the largest which, as expected, have the largest impact.

"All of the recent SDOs on South Shore have given the go-ahead for development on the coastline, the removal of natural habitats and the loss of open space, which we feel is an enormous sacrifice.

"In addition, SDOs provide little opportunity for public involvement in the decision-making process when the effects of such developments are vast and most likely, significantly impact the public.

"To the greatest extent possible once again we call for systemic checks to be introduced to the process to insure that the protections afforded Bermuda under the traditional planning process are preserved under an SDO — such as the protection of sensitive areas."

Mrs. Roberts said the Trust's objection to the Coco Reef extension "was based on the grounds that part of the development would be built on top of an area of native woodland, zoned Woodland Reserve, and the remainder of the woodland dissected by a man-made river".

She said: "We were also concerned about the effects of developing right upon the coastline, as proposed, and as such, did not feel that the development complied with Bermuda's Planning policy."

Coco Reef however, says it is seeking to improve the site through "the reinstatement of a woodland area within the tourism zone". Invasive plants such as Mexican Peppers are to be replaced with native plants such as Bay Grape and Bermuda Palmetto.

Mr. Jefferis said he has also taken on board the Trust's objection and has moved a swimming pool in the design further back from the coastline. "In the interests of compliance we've moved it inland, further away from the ocean," he said.

The SDO was approved by Minister of the Environment and Sports, El James, on Wednesday and published in the Official Gazette on Friday. It marks the 11th SDO to be issued since July 2003, although guidelines state they should only be issued in cases of "strategic, national importance or priority".

Yesterday a Government spokesman said: "In issuing the SDO, Minister James noted that, from a planning perspective, it was unlikely that the Development Applications Board could approve the application in its current form — primarily due to the proposed building height and the encroachment on an area which is zoned as Woodland Reserve.

"If the application was considered by the Board and refused, there would still be an opportunity for the Minister to consider an appeal. However, given the importance of this project to the continued development of Bermuda's tourism product, the option of moving the project forward via a Special Development Order was preferred.

"It should also be noted that the SDO is for 'In Principle' approval, and that, according to section 3 (2)(a) of the SDO, the design, external appearance and landscaping are reserved matters to be determined at the Final Approval stage and to the satisfaction of the Development Applications Board.

" The application for final planning permission shall be made to the Department of Planning and shall be accompanied by comprehensive details on design, external appearance and landscaping."

But Stuart Hayward, chairman of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST), said SDOs denied the public their right to object to new developments.

"In principle we (BEST) are wary of SDOs — mainly because they tend to interfere with the process of public and stakeholder input into the decisions," said Mr. Hayward.

The $74 million 'Coco Villas' development consists of a six-storey and a two-storey block of holiday apartments, to be built on two former tennis courts. Guests can enjoy butler service, a private beach, golf club membership and two infinity pools interconnected by a man-made river cascading down through woodland.

Mr. Jefferis also plans to feature a spa and two restaurants — one on the beach. The two-bedroom apartments will bring the number of units at Coco Reef to 112. They will be sold on a leasehold basis but with the owners leasing them back to the hotel for tourist use six months of the year.

Situated at the eastern end of the Coco Reef resort, construction is expected to start later this year, with completion scheduled for 2010. The apartments will then be marketed to Bermudians, tourists and to the international property market, with a unit costing upwards of $1.6 million.

Mr. Jefferis said the construction contract is still being decided, but said: "I would hope that we could start construction in about nine months".

He said an SDO was needed "because we're hoping to move swiftly on this".

"It's very important that when we start a project we can bring it to conclusion, particularly these days when you have to have all your finances in place," said Mr. Jefferis.

"The financial markets these days are quite erratic so it's important there's not too big a gap between the concept of the project, the drawings and viability studies, and securing the financing, because it needs to be drawn down, it can't hang around.