Environmental group BEST claim attempts to get a “Ibiza-style” beach bar on Warwick Long Bay have cost Government $500,000.In December the Development Applications Board turned down entrepreneur Belcario Thomas’ plans to build a temporary bar to cater to summer tourists for a second time.The decision ended a two-year fight by local residents who said the bar would spoil the natural beauty of the beach. Approximately 5,000 people signed a petition against the plans.Yesterday a spokesman for BEST said it did not understand why former Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney granted the applicant permission to build the beach bar in 2009 in an appeal after DAB said no.BEST took the issue to Supreme Court and Mr Blakeney’s decision overturned when it emerged that the former Minister had given no reasons on why he decided to give the restaurant the green light.The plans then had to be resubmitted to the DAB, they were turned down for a second time in December.Among the reasons cited for the refusal was a lack of information about how the structure would be put together and taken apart and what it would look like.Concerns were also voiced about the lack of parking on the site, and the impact on the natural and visual qualities of the area.Yesterday, a BEST spokesman said the recent proposal was very similar to the one made in 2008.“It was most astonishing that the then Environment Minister allowed an appeal, overturning the considered decision of the DAB and the advice of the Planning Inspector all the while having full knowledge that the application was incomplete and inadequate, and that it disregarded the unavoidable harmful environmental impact and discounted the legal safeguards put into place to protect parklands from developments like this,”the said.“In addition to wasting the time of many members of the public and of Planning and other environmental officers hired for their expertise, this exercise has cost the public upwards of $500,000 in internal legal expenses, and an unknown amount in the hundreds of thousands in yet-to-be-assessed legal costs.“We trust that the DAB’s repeat of its refusal decision will put an end to this misguided attempt to improve Bermuda’s tourism product.”