Marking 40 years as an environmental activist, Stuart Hayward will address Hamilton Rotary Club today on the latest initiatives of the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Task Force.

“Admiralty House Park was my first open space campaign and my first success,” the BEST chief advocacy officer told The Royal Gazette.

In 1974, reacting to news of plans by the Government to build a hotel college on the North Shore site, Mr Hayward formed his own action group calling for the scenic waterside area to be spared.

“Forty years ago this month, we held a free outdoor concert there — it ran over two days, using the natural amphitheatre of the land there,” Mr Hayward said.

“We had 18 different bands and it was attended by 6,000 people, many of whom had never seen that beautiful property before.”

The Pembroke property had been held by the British Navy, and was subsequently used for police and nurses, who were mainly from overseas — meaning most locals hadn’t seen the site up close.

The concert proved key in raising support for Admiralty House to become an open public space.

Aside from delivering a short retrospective, Mr Hayward plans to speak on the environmental group’s recent campaigns.

“I’ll be talking about the work that BEST does and reflecting on some of the issues we’ve been involved in,” he said.