Further questions about public access to Fort St Catherine’s Beach were raised in the Senate this week, but Michael Fahy, the Minister of Home Affairs, responded that the issues were answered in the recently tabled lease for the project.

Leases for the St George’s hotel project were tabled in the House of Assembly last Friday and are expected to be debated in the coming weeks.

During the Motion to Adjourn, Senator Renee Ming reiterated questions about what the hotel development would mean for public access to the beach, telling the Upper Chamber that she had been approached by concerned members of the public.

While she acknowledged that the wording in the document was identical to that in a previous contract for the site involving developer Carl Bazarian, neither document detailed what was meant by “reasonable” access.

Sen Ming said the natures of the two projects were different, with Mr Bazarian looking to build on top of the hill and new developers Desarrollos Hotelco look to build closer to the beach.

“Reasonable access, it seems to me, could be completely different things when we have two different plans,” she said.

While Sen Ming said she would be willing to take part in any future discussions about what reasonable access could mean, Sen Fahy noted that the lease for the site had been tabled in the House and details from the lease regarding access to the beach had been published in Wednesday’s edition of The Royal Gazette. That section of the lease states: “With the exception of the specific area delineated and marked ‘Hotel Use Only’ on the tenant covenants, the beach shall remain open to the general public for use (save for with regard to the use of any hotel facilities or amenities on the beach which shall be reserved for guests of the hotel and the owners and occupiers from time to time of any residential accommodation on the estate only) without charge at all times, except when the tenant or manager of the hotel shall close the beach, or a portion thereof, for such durations as may be agreed from time to time with the minister (acting reasonably) for the purposes of special hotel events on the beach, the maintenance or repairs of, or improvements to the beach.”

Sen Fahy added: “That seems pretty reasonable to me. I understand the offer that has been made by Sen Ming, but I am sure we will have robust discussions, and that will be on December 18.”

He later said: “The concerns that continue to be raised are misplaced. It’s laid out clearly in the lease. It was laid out very clearly before when the PLP were in government and it’s just noise making.”

The senator said he had also been approached by members of the public about the project and those who had spoken to him had been pleased that the hotel project seemed to be moving forward.

While Sen Fahy said that one person had expressed disappointment about the relatively small size of the proposed hotel, he said: “The effect on St George’s will be profound. That’s a fact.”