Log In

Reset Password

BEST: Last chance to object to “starkly un-Bermudian” Park Hyatt

BEST chairman Stuart Hayward.

Environmentalists have called for the public to voice last-minute concerns over Park Hyatt's “starkly un-Bermudian” development plans for St George's.Tomorrow is the final day for objections to be sent to the Department of Planning.Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) chairman Stuart Hayward said his group was not “anti-development”, and supports the concept of a hotel for St George's.However, he said: "We would want to see that the scale and massing of the development resembled St George's in character and was not so starkly un-Bermudian.“We are concerned that the current design appears to pack as many buildings as possible into the space available, and arranges them in a cookie cutter pattern totally out of character with St George's.”Developer Carl Bazarian hope to build the resort on the former hilltop site of Club Med.The application now before Planning describes the development as a community “reminiscent of the Town of St George's”.Mr Hayward noted that the 122 residential units outnumber the 100 hotel rooms planned for the East End development.“We question whether this is a hotel or primarily a residential development on tourism-zoned land,” he said.St George's resident David Hillier spoke on behalf of the Old Military Road Task Force a group of about 300 people.Mr Hillier objected to the plans to build a utility site on a one-acre plot of woodland near their homes.“We are saying this is too much industrial activity for one area to sustain,” he said.A power plant, generators, fuel tanks and reverse osmosis plant are among the utilities in current plans for the site.Mr Hillier said residents' “greatest fear” was that the complex would be built but the Park Hyatt would be unable to sell its residences, leaving “a huge industrial site on our front door”.They called for the public to visit BEST's website, where a template for a letter to Planning plus a full list of concerns is available www.best.org.bm.