Plans for a five-star hotel and fractional resort at Coral Beach Club have been scuttled by planning officials.

The Development Applications Board (DAB) refused the 'in principle' planning application for the Four Seasons Hotel, citing several examples of how the development would defy the zoning of Draft Bermuda Plan 2008.

The decision is the latest setback for hotel development on the Island as the global economic crisis has placed questions over availability of credit for other resort projects.

Developers Brickman Holdings of New York submitted the application, with the resort to be managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

George Wardman of owners Coral Beach and Tennis Club was last night off-Island and unavailable for comment.

Brickman Holdings were also unavailable at the time of going to press and it is not yet known whether the developers will appeal the decision.

More than 40 objections were received against the five-star hotel and residence club.

The Bermuda National Trust, Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) and scores of residents raised concerns about loss of open space, potential traffic congestion and construction noise.

The plans for the resort included 60 fractional ownership 'cottage colony' style villas at Horizons and Coral Beach. Another 20 residential units were to be built for sale to sole owners.

The 150-room hotel was to be accompanied by a spa, fitness centre, tennis courts, pools and a conference centre.

The Horizons nine-hole golf course was to disappear and the resort would also have brought major changes to South Road, with new access points and a pedestrian underpass tunnel near the entrance to Coral Beach.

If approved, South Road would also have undergone a reconfiguration, to straighten a bend at "two well-known traffic accident spots".

An access road would have also linked the resort to Tribe Road Five. This drew 25 letters of objection from residents, who claimed traffic congestion along Ord Road, Southcote Road and the tribe roads would increase as a result.

In their planning application, the developers said they would retain the land's existing zonings of open space, woodland reserve, coastal reserve and agricultural land.

However, a scoping report an early set of guidelines for the environmental impact statement, stated: "Portions of the overall development intrude on areas currently zoned agricultural, recreational and woodland reserve."

This was also why planning officials refused the application. The DAB gave the following reasons:

1. Insufficient information was submitted "to enable a proper assessment of the proposal to be undertaken". The DAB said the Environmental Impact Scoping Report did not give enough information as to the scale of "possible environmental impacts".

2. The proposal was against the Draft Bermuda Plan 2008 in that fractional units went against "permitted forms of development" which were "limited to recreational uses only".

3. Fractional units, parking, roadways and tennis courts would have been sited on Open Space Reserve areas.

4. The development would also encroach on Agricultural Reserve.

5. "The development as proposed would cause measurable damage to Agricultural Lands, Woodlands, and Habitats" forbidden under the Development and Planning Act 1974.

6. The resort would have impinged on Woodland Reserve areas, also contrary to the Draft Bermuda Plan 2008.