April 3, 2012Dear Sir,Michael Weeks states “Stopping work on the Grand Atlantic is not an option and would not be practical”. My question is: “No condominiums have sold so why would the development not be stopped until the first phase is sold or there is some indication they will?”Apparently a number of people have shown an interest. An interest does not a sale make. When enquires find the monthly payments for the mortgage and the management fee would average $5,000 for a 15-year mortgage, I believe their interest would quickly die, especially if they would still have insurances, taxes etc to pay. I enquired and visited the condominiums but quickly decided that I would not live there even if one was given to me.What is the Department of Planning saying about the wall at the base of the cliff? Were they ever consulted? The wall is a mixture of concrete, coral boulders and coral sand taken from the beach. Two of us observed this and confirmed it with one of the workmen on site. Was a permit given to use these construction materials? I suspect this wall will not stop the erosion especially from waves. A Wave Attenuation Wall might help but waves will get behind any wall and pull it away or more than likely the sand will build up in a storm and waves will roll up the ramp created and smash into the cliff.Mr Weeks talks about comprehensive studies by both structural and geological/geotechnical engineers. These studies might not mean a thing when the hurricanes come.Where is the Environmental Impact Study? I believe Planning have one that they requested from the group that planned to develop the Southlands property next door. I believe this study concluded that these cliffs would have to be terraced back to South Road to counteract the wave action as the waves would dissipate as they came up the terraces. The Special Development Order SDO for the Grand Atlantic development was rushed through by previous Premier Dr Brown and I worry that it bypassed the Planning and other government departments. For many reasons it’s hard to believe they would have approved of this development.The Bank of NT Butterfield has offered 100 percent financing. I suspect they had no choice after government bailed them out. Full 100 percent financing has proved to be a disaster in other countries (England & USA) and contributed to the current recession. In many cases buyers defaulted without any financial loss.I wonder if Mr Weeks has viewed the cliffs from the beach? I wonder if he or anyone in Government read David Wingate’s articles and reports on the history and projections for the erosion of these cliffs, among the most unstable in the world. There is little that can be done that will halt the erosion by weather. Do prospective buyers have any idea what being in one of these buildings would be like in a hurricane? The buildings would most likely be sprayed by salt water spray and most likely be extensively damaged. I wonder if anyone from Government has been to such places as Coral Beach and Mermaid Beach to see the damage happening to the cliffs in front of these properties. Mermaid Beaches has been constructing massive retaining walls to try and stop the erosion. The condominium owners there have had to pay for this construction. Something similar would no doubt also happen at Grand Atlantic.There is still talk of a hotel. Would any hotelier seriously consider a location between a large gas station and a housing development especially seeing they would have to charge a minimum of $500 a night just to break even. Hoteliers are now probably well aware that fractional ownerships are rapidly falling out of favour.WARWICK RESIDENT