Experts advise against parking lot at Southlands
Planning officials have urged the Minister of Home Affairs to reject a proposal to build parking and an events lawn on a portion of the Southlands National Park.
While the plans were rejected by the Development Applications Board last month, the Bermuda Housing Corporation has appealed the decision on the basis that the project was essential for the success of the neighbouring Bermudiana Beach Resort.
In response to the appeal, the department recommended that the DAB’s decision be upheld.
The director of the department said in a letter dated May 11 that the appellant had not provided any reason why the proposed development would be appropriate within a “high quality” woodland reserve.
She added: “The appellant is requesting that the minister give overarching weight to the claim that the proposed events lawn is pivotal to the success of the adjacent hotel which is currently under construction. However, no evidence to substantiate this claim has been provided.
“It must be noted that the approved hotel development includes a number of amenities including a restaurant, pool with deck area, event deck space and an elevator and stairs providing direct access to Southlands Beach, therefore the claim that an events lawn is also necessary for the success of the hotel is highly questionable.
“In any event, the department strongly disagrees that such a benefit for the hotel should be granted at the expense of a high-quality woodland.”
The director noted that while revised drawings had been submitted to clear up some issues with the application, the appellant had not responded to concerns about “significant inaccuracies” about the state of the existing woodland and that no assessment had been provided.
“Such an assessment should have been carried out prior to the submission of a planning application and informed the proposed design,” she said.
She also highlighted that the conservation management plan for the site contained elements such as wash rooms and a utilities room that were not included in the site plans and states that removed trees “may” be reused.
“Fundamentally, the appellant has continued to fail to provide an accurate survey of the site in order to gain a full understanding of its quality and has made no effort to identify existing vegetation for retention,” she said.
“This matter is compounded by the lack of any specific proposals for tree planting or transplanting and the appellant’s failure to recognise that certain trees within the site cannot reasonably survive transplantation.”
The director added that while the appellant had highlighted the Department of Parks had not objected to the plan, the Department of Planning and DAB were “far more qualified” to assess the proposal, noting the Bermuda Plan 2018 clearly set out the events lawn and proposed chain link fencing were not appropriate for the site.
In a Letter to the Editor, the Bermuda National Trust suggested yesterday the Government consider a compromise approach that would allow the events lawn on the site but not the parking area.
Karen Border, BNT executive director, said that if the parking was intended to improve public access to Southlands Beach, it could be established on brownfield land located west of the beach access.
“It is unnecessary for the Southlands public parking to be located next to the events lawn, and it makes no sense at all to build it on the one area of the park that has a beautiful, thriving native and endemic woodland,” she said.
“The DAB and the Government Conservation Officer both commented on the high environmental value of this section of coastal woodland. Its destruction to create a parking lot would go against all good principles of park management.
“The brownfield site west of the beach entrance provides close access to the main park and is only a short walk to the events lawn, for those occasions when it is used for overflow parking.
“This is a solution that would ensure the Bermudiana Beach Resort gets the events lawn that is deemed essential to its success, Southlands Park gets its parking area, and two thirds of the woodland that would have been bulldozed under the original proposal would be saved.”
Ms Border added that she would like to see no further development at Southlands until a “well-considered management plan” is in place with the support of a reconstituted National Parks Commission.
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