Plans to develop at Horseshoe Beach should have been open to the public, environmentalists have charged.A proposal by South Shore Hospitality Group to build a two-storey restaurant in the park is currently before Planning. Environmental activist Graeme Outerbridge said: “There’s a fundamental issue that people are missing. This is a public park.“The vendor only has a rental agreement with Government. Before this proposal was granted to one particular group, a request should have been put to the whole community.“This isn’t to take away from the proposal now, which has merit. But the widest array of proposals should have been considered. What goes in at Horseshoe Bay will start a trend for facilities of this kind going in at public beaches, like Clearwater or Tobacco Bay or John Smith’s Bay.”Mr Outerbridge said he had lodged an objection with Planning, and may submit a more detailed objection if there is a hearing on the matter.He said he was also concerned about sewerage treatment, coastal erosion and provisions for private buses coming down to Horseshoe Bay.However, Bermuda ultimately needed a national strategy for facilities at public beaches, he said.“Horseshoe Beach can’t cope with the volume of tourists being rammed into it. It needs a facility, but we have to get it right.”Stuart Hayward of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) said the group had not objected to the development, but had met with project architect Michael Somers to air its concerns.“They seem to have paid attention to environmental issues. That’s always a good start.”However, he said: “How has the financing worked out for this? That’s where transparency from Government would halt speculation.”He said concessions at the beach have always existed in “a fuzzy area, with a private entrepreneur using public property”.Mr Hayward also blamed Government for not thinking ahead when large numbers of cruise ship passengers were sent to the popular Southampton beach.“We are concerned about the density of use in this area, with tourists in their thousands being brought in to a beach that can only be at peace with a few hundred. That isn’t sustainable tourism.“It’s a flawed policy to deliver too many people to one area. If you want to see tourist numbers rise and only then do you decide to cope with the problem you’ve created where do you go from there?“Development at Horseshoe Beach was one outcome of this, and I’m led to believe attempts to commercialise Warwick Long Bay were another.”Mr Hayward stressed that the Horseshoe proposal had many good points. BEST’s main concerns are the handling of extra trash, parking, the use of outdoor lights, and the possibility of alcohol being served during the day.BEST’s letter to Planning also raises concerns over “clarity on responsibility and accountability”.Mr Hayward said: “Particularly when it comes to questions about costs, Government has a tendency to clam up. We just can’t get answers.”He said BEST had concerns about “whether there are costs incurred by the public that are either open to question or ought not to be incurred, and who bears ultimate responsibility” for a concession built on national park land.“Bermuda comes from a colonial history of secrecy on all things Government. We would have hoped that a more enlightened Government would have more enlightened policies, particularly with arrangements on public property.”BEST’s letter to the Director of Planning also appeals for public notices of applications to clearly identify the site in question.It says the notice of development in the public Gazette “contained not one word that would have indicated that the site was at Horseshoe Bay”.“Had not the media noticed and made it a prominent story, this matter could have escaped the attention of even citizens conscientiously reading the development notices.”South Shore Hospitality Group spokesman Phil Perinchief responded: “The first phase of the project isn’t Government funded.“It is a public-private partnership, and since private individuals are doing it, there was no reason for it to be put out for tender.”Recommendations made by BEST and the Bermuda National Trust had been “very helpful”, he added.Useful websites: www.best.org.bm, www.gov.bm