A WOODED hillside bulldozed earlier this year to make way for a 40-unit housing development could see further desecration in the coming months.

Developer Kevin Cross has applied to Planning to further subdivide the property. Known as The Hamptons, the construction project sits on five acres of land below Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, now being developed into units of cluster housing.

The application has further raised the ire of area residents and conservationists. So aggrieved were they when the plans were first proposed 13 years ago, the matter was afforded the rare opportunity of a public hearing.

The application will soon go before the Planning Board, with today the last day for residents to file complaint. Leading the charge is the Bermuda National Trust.

Peter Drew, then the group's Environmental Conservation Officer, filed an objection to the proposal in September of this year.

"The Bermuda National Trust objects to the (Hamptons) subdivision application on the grounds that the southern lot will be comprised solely of Conservation Areas with no development potential other than that mandated by Section 14.7 of the Planning Statement. The proposed is not permitted under the Development and Planning Act, Planning Statement and should not be approved.

"Should the owner wish to proceed with this subdivision the Trust would withdraw its objection if a Section 34 Agreement was entered into and/or reaffirmed with the Ministry of the Environment to protect the entirety of the Conservation Areas."

Mr. Drew cited in his objection a similar subdivision successfully applied by the Bermuda Housing Corporation in Warwick, which could be referred to as a model.

Developer Kevin Petty purchased the property, 12.5 acres of land on the Masters Estate on St. Anne's Road, in 1991. Eight acres of the land were reserved "in perpetuity", never to be developed and Mr. Petty applied to build a housing unit on the remainder of the land.

The application was rejected by the Development Applications Board (DAB) on the grounds that it 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".

In 1995, however, a Supreme Court appeal overturned that decision and Mr. Petty later received building permits for seven of the proposed homes and in-principle approval for the remainder. The plans were resubmitted to Planning in 2002, at which time area residents and the Trust lobbied against the development, lodging 31 applications with the Department and appealing publicly for the protection of the land.

Among their arguments: the scale of the development would overwhelm the property, 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.

The DAB disagreed and, in February, approved the second phase of the development, granting Mr. Petty permission for nine detached houses.

Mr. Petty sold the property to Mr. Cross last Christmas. Development of the 40 units has yet to be completed.