Quinton Edness has been dismissed as a "backbencher flying off'' by one of his former Cabinet colleagues.

Environment Minister Harry Soares made the comments after Mr. Edness called for the House of Assembly to be made a listed building.

Mr. Soares has objected to his own house in Paget being given Grade II status in the historic buildings register.

He also criticised the list for a "perceived double standard'', saying Government buildings in Hamilton were exempted but private homeowners were being forced to sign up.

Now Mr. Soares, who unveiled the scheme in July, has hinted that owners could be allowed to pull their homes off the register.

But Mr. Edness called The Royal Gazette and appealed to Mr. Soares not to change the register's rules, seven years after it was first drawn up by the National Trust's historic buildings committee.

The former Home Affairs Minister also said the "perceived double standard'' could be avoided by putting Government buildings like the House of Assembly on the register.

No buildings in Hamilton have been included in the list of 880 properties.

But Mr. Soares said: "When this thing was set up in 1991, people went to great lengths to decide what was going to be included and what wasn't.

"I can't make policy on the hoof, just because some backbencher goes flying off.

"He was there at the time to make the suggestion. It's not something to which I or any other Minister would say: `Yes, we need to'.

"There must have been some very good reasons why Hamilton wasn't included.

"I'll be looking at the whole scheme in depth to see where we go from here.

It would not be appropriate for me to give some indication of whether or not one building in Hamilton should be put on the list.'' Mr. Soares told The Royal Gazette on Monday that his review of the register had nothing to do with the listed status of his luxury home "Rural Hill'' on Grape Bay Drive.

He also said homeowners who had objected to their properties being listed would "have their cases re-examined''.

But Mr. Edness said: "It would be a mistake not to continue with the plan to list historic properties as was originally presented.

"It would be a mistake to provide people with an option to not have their places listed. It would defeat the entire purpose, obviously.

"It's essential that those houses listed as being of architectural value be protected.

"Government buildings should also be included. The easy answer to the double standards issue is to include them if they are of architectural value.

"That would be better than allowing the whole Island potentially to be exempted. The House of Assembly should definitely be included. It's an extremely valuable building.

"I haven't spoken to Mr. Soares but I'm sure he's going to press ahead. He's honestly pointed out a difficulty and he's working out how best to handle it.'' Corporation of Hamilton secretary Roger Sherratt said the city had already agreed with the National Trust to look after its own buildings and consult with them about controversial developments.

ENVIRONMENT ENV PLANNING PLN