Concerns aired for new homes near sea cliff
Work on the Grand Atlantic development in Warwick is continuing despite concerns that the site is threatened by erosion.
Building of the first 24 homes of a 125-unit affordable housing complex has been underway for several months at the former Golden Hind hotel site.
Construction on an $80 million, 100-room hotel and 20 fractional units is expected to start before the end of the year.
Warwick resident Russell Eddy expressed concerns that rock falls caused by damage to a nearby South Shore cliff have put the site closer to the cliff edge.
He also stated concerns about the cliff when the project was first announced but yesterday said that the effects of Hurricane Igor and Tropical Storm Tomas have caused erosion to accelerate.
"There's an unstable loose vein along the bottom of the cliff that keeps being washed out by the waves. The rock keeps falling. It's been doing it for years, but seems to get steadily worse.
"The whole cliff continues to crumble and in the last two weeks since we had the tropical storm go past us a whole lot more of it has come down.
"The developers are putting affordable housing at the top of the cliff and I'm worried that the whole thing is going to collapse."
Developer Gilbert Lopes reiterated that geotechnical studies carried out on the site have shown the project is safe and that work to reinforce the cliff is expected to begin soon.
"We had studies carried out on the site already," Mr Lopes said. "We had a trained geo-technician look at the site and make recommendations, and we are following his advice.
"There will be work done to support the rock face, but that will take place later in the project."
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance and the Bermuda Environment and Sustainability Taskforce have both expressed concerns about the cliff.