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Survey to decide use of land in North Hamilton

The City of Hamilton will launch a survey to gauge public feedback on what they should do with a newly purchased lot at the north west corner of Court and Dundonald Street.Mayor of Hamilton, Charles Gosling, who made the announcement today, said: “I believe this property has great potential for this area. There have been a number of suggestions made about what we could do with this piece of undeveloped land.”The idea was first mooted three years ago during a post election walkabout. Mr Gosling said: “At that time Government had made a commitment to purchase the property and while there were brief discussions on our taking over this commitment, nothing came of it.”The property was recently put back on the market and with support of the council the deal was sealed with Butterfield Bank. The Mayor also noted that it was a former Councillor, Carvel VanPutten, who suggested the property would be a great site for a street art market to support young, talented Bermudians.“I think the community should be involved with the decision making process, this is a prime piece of property that should be used to give something back to and serve the community.“Bermuda needs a central Bermudian art and craft market where people can walk about freely. It is my hope that this will help lift the stigma attached to the area which has affected business in the back of town area.“It took a long time to lift the stigma attached to the ‘back of town' label alone, we turned it into the North Hamilton area. Now its time to include it in the full scheme of things especially when it comes to cultural tourism and business in Bermuda in general.”The Corporation now plans to launch a brief survey asking for public input on how people would like to see the space used. The survey can be found on the City of Hamilton website at cityofhamilton.bm, or comments can be e-mailed to mayor@cityhall.bm.Mr Gosling added: “We believe having an attractive and welcoming space, whatever it will be, will attract locals and tourists to the Court Street area, especially those who may not know of the retail, eating establishments, fashion and hair salon gems surrounding the land.”Details on who put the property up for sale, or how much the corporation paid for it were not disclosed. A spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette that information will not be released.