Government has no plans to make Section 34 agreements permanent, leaving it at the whim of the Environment Minister whether or not to overturn provisions protecting land from development, according to Environment permanent secretary Brian Rowlinson.

Section 34 of the Development and Planning Act 1974 protects land against any kind of development.

The legislation hit the headlines in 2000 when then Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson granted permission for the building of an access road on the Chaplin Estate, where a Section 34 agreement was in place.

The development was rubber stamped and the protection order overturned despite previous applications being rejected four times by the Department of Planning and twice by independent inspectors.

The National Trust took the issue to the Supreme Court, where the Chief Justice ruled in the Trust's favour, saying the Minister had “neglected his public duty”.

However the Appeals Court then overturned that judgement, ruling that Government has the authority to override protection orders on conservation land.

National Trust lawyer Alan Dunch said the ruling meant that any Section 34 agreement could be changed by subsequent owners and Environment Ministers.

The National Trust did not take the issue to the Privy Council, instead deciding on another course of action they felt was less risky - calling for land owners to donate their land to the National Trust or the Bermuda Audubon Society.

Otherwise, the Trust said, if the land is sold, the new owners could get the Section 34 agreement overturned.

Mr. Dunch has also said the Trust planned to push for legislative amendments requiring the Trust itself to be party to Section 34 agreements, with a result that covenants done under Section 34 could not be varied without the consent of the Trust.

The Trust also planned to also push for amendments in the Development and Planning Act 1974 to make it impossible to override Section 34 agreements in the future.

However, Mr. Rowlinson said Government has no plans to make Section 34 permanent, and any plans in the future are up to the Government Ministers.

Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield did not respond to repeated calls from The Royal Gazette on the issue.