a Supreme Court ruling and granted Government the right to override planning regulations.

Lawyer Mr. Alan Dunch said yesterday that the Environment Minister could in theory ignore fundamental zoning rules if the courts allowed him to make decisions inconsistent with planning regulations.

"In this context, the Minister could do the same in respect of any other application including the granting of a permit not consistent with zoning,'' he said. "He could in theory approve an office block in Par-la-Ville Park.'' Appeal court judges yesterday heard the case for leaving untouched a Supreme Court ruling that Environment Minister, the Hon. Gerald Simons "misapplied the law'' in overturning a Development Application Board ruling.

In November, the Hon. Justice Meerabux sided with Bermudiana Road resident Mr.

David Barber who claimed the Minister had no right to grant permission for a two-storey addition to the ACE building adjacent to his property -- elevating it to five storeys -- after the DAB had ruled the addition was against planning regulations.

Yesterday, Mr. Dunch, representing Mr. Barber, put forward his case to fend off the appeal brought by the Minister and owners of the building, Scarborough Property Holdings Limited.

Mr. Dunch tried to convince the three-judge panel that the Bermuda Plan was law - not policy -- and that the Minister was bound, like the DAB, to keep within its parameters.

"The Minister is bound by the law. He cannot do anything outside that envelope,'' Mr. Dunch said.

English cases used to back their arguments were irrelevant, he said, because of fundamental differences in planning systems in the United Kingdom and Bermuda.

In Bermuda, planning guidelines could only be changed through Parliament, he claimed. "The system by its nature was intended to give ultimate control to the legislation,'' he said. "The Minister took it upon himself to modify the plan. He can't. He must go to Parliament.'' But appeal judge the Hon. Sir Alan Huggins questioned whether a Parliamentary resolution in fact made planning recommendations law or whether a resolution simply approved the Minister's policy which remained policy only. Mr. Dunch answered it did not.

If the panel opted to reverse the Supreme Court ruling, he warned, the decision could bring about a new era in Bermuda.

But appeal judge the Hon. Mr. Justice DaCosta replied it must be assumed that ministers, who were answerable to Parliament and their constituents, acted responsibly.

Solicitor General Mr. Barrie Meade argued the Bermuda Plan, in draft at the time, had been delegated to the Minister by Parliament to be applied at his discretion.

But Mr. Barber who has lived at "Jaracanda'' for 33 years claimed the addition, built before the case went to court, was overshadowing his home and invading his privacy.

Meanwhile, the building remains unoccupied as Scarborough awaits the appeal's outcome.

All parties will be informed of the panel's decision in due course.