THE future of the planning official who carried out unauthorised construction work on the home of Bermuda Housing Corporation officer Terrence Smith is now in the hands of the head of the civil service.

Austin Simons worked on the Tee Street home of Mr. Smith between April and June of last year, when he was Planning Inspector for Devonshire, helping to carry out renovations for which planning permission had been refused.

Director of Planning Rudolph Hollis said yesterday that a final decision on Mr. Simons' case would be made by civil service head Stanley Oliver.

"I do know Mr. Simons' case is still under active review," said Mr. Hollis. "I have submitted my findings to the head of the civil service.

"I understand that he will now decide what action to take according to the Code of Conduct and the Public Service Commission Regulations."

Mr. Hollis confirmed that Mr. Simons was still working for the Planning Department. Efforts to contact Mr. Oliver yesterday were unsuccessful.

Mr. Simons was found to have worked on the roof framing for a 180-square-foot extension of a master bedroom, work which went ahead without planning permission. The planning inspector had not gained specific permission to do the outside job from his head of department, as is required by the civil service code of conduct.

Mr. Smith carried out a 5,899-square-foot extension to his home, even though his planning application for the work had been refused. Mr. Smith faced having to apply for retroactive planning permission or face an enforcement order to have them removed or even possible prosecution. The Mid-Ocean News understands that Mr. Smith did apply for retroactive planning permission on April 25, an application which must next go before the Development Applications Board.

The application seeks approval to enlarge a bedroom, verandah and storage area, a new roof over the master bedroom terrace, to change a roof to a deck, and to upgrade a parking area.

Building work has been going on at the three-storey, four-bedroomed home since the summer of 2000, when it was purchased by Mr. Smith and his wife Veronica.

Mr. Smith is a property officer at the BHC and hit the headlines in March, when a small contractor claimed he was taken off BHC work sites after he charged Mr. Smith for work being carried out at his Tee Street home.

And it also emerged that Mr. Smith was running architectural design and building consultancy companies from his desk at BHC headquarters.

Auditor General Larry Dennis carried out an in-depth invetsigation into BHC affairs, following allegations of overpayments to contractors and kickbacks, and his findings have not yet been released for fear of prejudicing possible criminal proceedings.