split up and turned over to new housing.

They are hoping that if the US Consul General's official residence is put on the market, it will be as one property and not as separate development plots.

Any such move would require Planning permission but environmental campaigners are keen that their voice be heard in any plans.

The US Government wants to sell the Chelston estate -- which extends to around 14 acres in Paget and could be worth anything up to $15 million -- and US Consul General Robert Farmer said they could consider selling the property as separate entities.

That might include selling the house on its own and dividing the grounds into three to four acre plots for home building.

Ian MacDonald-Smith, a trustee of pressure group Save Open Spaces, said it was a substantial open space and should remain so.

He said there was no need for extra houses, adding there was no point in ruining the ground for the sake of four or five extra homes.

If the US did decide to sell the estate in separate lots, it would be a purely financial decision, he said.

"It would be the US Government speculating on Bermuda land prices,'' he said.

Any proposals would be subject to zoning of the land, but Mr. Macdonald Smith said he felt that the US were just trying to assess public reaction to the idea.

Amanda Outerbridge, director of the Bermuda National Trust, said the Trust would look at any proposals as they came up before the planning department.

The Trust didn't want to see the land "carved up'' as open space was "very valuable'', she said.

The US Government says it needs to sell Chelston to raise money to fund Embassies and consulates in new countries such as the former Soviet republics.

The Grape Bay Drive home was also the subject of a critical NBC News report questioning why the Consul General needed such a grand residence.