development plans yesterday in winning endorsement from the Paget Parish Council.

The council, which is charged by law to look after the interests of the parish, unanimously endorsed the hotel's expansion plan following a 90-minute Wednesday meeting with its architects.

"We decided unanimously to support the Elbow Beach extension,'' council chairman Mr. Duncan McBeath said afterward.

Ten of the council's members sat in the meeting with representatives from Cooper & Gardner Architects.

Mr. McBeath said the council asked for the meeting because of concerns the impact the hotel expansion would have on parish life.

In particular, the council was worried that increased occupancy represented by 120 new hotel rooms would put too much stress on local roads and the property's sewage system.

Other council concerns included the height of the hotel's six-storey conference centre and the spectre of the so-called palace suites built on the dunes of Elbow Beach.

In each case, architects Mr. John Gardner and Mr. Michael Phillips eased council concerns.

The architects said the hotel expansion included construction of a sewage treatment plant with more than adequate capacity. Currently the hotel does not have a plant. Its sewage is treated through settlement tanks.

As for the conference centre, Mr. McBeath said: "We got the impression that the height of the new wing would probably conform to the height of the existing hotel building.'' There are indications that the architects are working on a scheme that may see the height of the conference centre reduced.

Mr. McBeath said the owners, through their architects, had expressed concerns about the location of the controversial palace suites.

"They'll address that as well to alleviate concerns,'' he said. "These were some of the many questions we asked and we got the impression that the owners are prepared to compromise and cooperate as best they can.'' The Parish Council's vote was made the same day Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness re-stated Cabinet's support in principle for the hotel's expansion.

The Progressive Labour Party has also backed the plan.

Objectors include the Bermuda National Trust and the nearby Horizons and Cottages and the Coral Beach Club.