LAND developer Kevin Petty has won his battle to turn a prominent woodland conservation area below Gibbs Hill Lighthouse into units of cluster housing.

Area residents and the Bermuda National Trust lobbied against the potential development earlier this year, lodging 31 objections with the Planning Department and appealing publicly for the protection of the land through this newspaper and The Royal Gazette.

Largely from the neighbouring areas of Southdown Farm, Buggy Whip Hill, St. Anne's Road, Prism Heights and Orchard Drive, the residents argued that the planned 40 units would overwhelm the five-acre spot on which they would sit, create an area of high density housing, spoil the vistas from one of Bermuda's premier tourist sites, bring unwanted levels of traffic and do serious damage to the sewage system now in effect.

Planning inspector Brian Field recommended the appeal be granted however, adding it would provide a "range of housing types suited to the Bermudian housing market."

Construction is to take place in two phases with seven detached houses to be completed in phase one, and nine detached houses and 24 townhouses erected in the second.

"There are a number of supplementary issues that have been raised such as drainage which can and should be addressed at detailed planning stage as well as a rather bizarre suggestion from several objectors that the development should be resisted because it would be clearly visible from the lighthouse - hardly surprising I would have thought for a vantage point built specifically for such purpose," Mr. Field wrote in his report to then Minister of the Environment, Dennis Lister.

"I am also of the opinion the site is capable of accommodating 40 appropriately designed dwelling units ... I would therefore recommend that both applications be approved.

"Phase one unreservedly - interestingly enough none of the objectors have made explicit reference to phase one in their submissions - and phase two subject to conditions to secure a more appropriate massing and design of the second phase townhouses at the southern end of the site. The expiration of the initial approvals does afford an opportunity to review options and this should be exploited."

Construction on the wooded hillside so raised the ire of environmentalists when plans were proposed 12 years ago, the matter was afforded the rare opportunity of a public hearing.

Earlier this year, the Bermuda National Trust objected to the application, citing development density, loss of woodland and the impact on visual amenities from Gibbs Hill as being contrary to the Bermuda Image as set out under the (Bermuda Development Plan).

Yesterday, the Trust offered this statement: "The Bermuda National Trust is pleased that two key issues have emerged with the Minister's decision in regard to the Hampton Ltd. appeal.

"The Minister agreed with the Planning Inspector that should a development application approval (valid for two years) lapse, it is appropriate to review and reappraise any subsequent development applications upon their own merits to ensure they meet all applicable criteria of the current Development Plan.

"Secondly, the Trust is also pleased that the Minister has called for 'particular care... be given to the layout, massing and design...' of the dense cluster housing that has been proposed by Mr. Petty in the current version of this development during the final application submissions. The Trust hopes that Mr. Petty will use this opportunity to revisit his design and produce a new version which lessens the impact and is both sensitive to the site conditions and the surrounding neighbours."

Southdown Farm resident Sharon Greenslade was unaware of the DAB decision until she was contacted by the Mid-Ocean News yesterday.

"What kind of impact is (that extra traffic) going to have? Unless you cut another access road somewhere, it will be a nightmare," she said. "It is a shame, but we gave it our best shot. He's been given permission for the wrong reasons - monetary ones. I have nothing against him. As a businessman I understand, but I think it's an absolute sin. (The development) is too ambitious for what he's trying to do and where he's trying to do it.

"We're talking about a fair chunk of hillside that will be destroyed. Southdown Farm residents are not complaining because the development is close to us, we're complaining because we're very conscious of the environment and the need to preserve it for future generations."

Most Southdown residents would agree the problem wasn't Mr. Petty's plans to build on the land, but the extent of the planned construction, Mrs. Greenslade added.

"Southdown Farm has 53 units, but they're spread over more than 11 acres. He plans to build 40 units on five acres. I think it will have a terrible impact on the area. The hillside will be destroyed with more houses. Even if there were only 30 additional houses, that's not necessarily 30 people added to the neighbourhood - it could be as many as 150 people. His plans are to build 40 units. Even ten or 15 units would be better. I think the numbers speak for themselves."

Yesterday, Mr. Petty refused to comment on the DAB decision although he had defended his interests in the Mid-Ocean News in January.

"The property - and it's potential for development - has been looked at under a magnifying glass," he said then. "It's nothing new. People are obviously objecting for the sake of objecting. They're only trying to prolong the process. I'm confused as to why they are complaining."

The land involved is a 12.5-acre parcel, once known as the Masters Estate. The vacant lot sits in close proximity to the south west of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, with its northern boundary at St. Anne's Road and its southern boundaries as South Road and Lighthouse Road. Heavily vegetated, it is zoned a combination of Residential Two, Woodland Reserve, Open Space and Agricultural land.

An application to develop the property was first submitted in 1988, seeking approval for 70 dwelling units but later withdrawn and amended to 40 condominium-style homes.

That submission was rejected by the DAB, whose members were of the opinion that the plan was: "premature and contrary to the public interest in that it would tend to undermine the fundamental policy of 'sustainable development' put forward in the Bermuda Development Plan 1991."

A Supreme Court appeal overturned the DAB decision in 1992, and two years later, the application was granted permission in principle subject to certain conditions one of which required a Section 34 agreement - used to protect areas of arable land and woodland in perpetuity - be placed on 8 acres of the property. In 1999, Mr. Petty agreed to meet those conditions and received final approval and building permits for phase one of the development - seven of the proposed homes - and in-principle approval for the remainder. The building permits lapsed however and the plans were resubmitted to the Planning Department last year.