A decision to give the go-ahead for a motocross track to be built on national park land is “deeply concerning” and “a sad day for democracy“, according to environmental groups.

A trio of watchdog organisations — the Audubon Society, the National Trust and the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce — spoke out after Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, confirmed this week that he had given the track on Coney Island the green light ahead of a one-off motocross event to be held on the island next month.

Justifying his decision, Colonel Burch said: “Our young people are the future of Bermuda, and it is essential that we provide them with the platforms to showcase their talents and drive positive change.”

The Government also argued that the new venue could “position the island as a burgeoning hub for sports tourism” — even though it is only meant to be a temporary structure for a one-off event.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Audubon Society questioned why developers had been granted a one-year permit for the track while claiming that it was for a one-off event to be held within weeks.

The spokeswoman pointed out that motocross events had been held at Coney Island before it became a national park — but were switched to a new, permanent, purpose-built facility at Southside several years ago after it was realised that the sport was damaging the island’s precious ecosystem.

The spokeswoman said: “Coney Island has unique geological, environmental and historical features that are meant to be protected.

“Past [motocross] use resulted in significant damage to the landscape and it has taken years of restoration work for the park to recover.

“The activity also resulted in damage to the aquatic features of Coney Island due to extensive muddy run-off from the motocross tracks.

“What started out as a one-off event in the past resulted in decades of abuse of the park landscape and the surrounding neighbourhood.”

The spokeswoman added that motocross events had brought other problems, such as litter and noise pollution to the island, and prevented members of the public from enjoying its open spaces.

She said: “As a result, motorsport activities were moved to a dedicated facility at Southside, where they have successfully operated for many years.

“We are very concerned that history will repeat itself. It is hard to imagine that someone would go to the expense of reconfiguring the landscape for a single motocross event.

“The details of the permit should be made public.

“It is hard to justify a motocross event being promoted by a private individual as in the overriding public interest. It is exactly the opposite.

“Overriding public interest typically refers to a situation where the interests of the general public or society as a whole take precedence over the interests of individuals or specific groups.

“In this instance, the minister is giving precedence to the interests of a specific group over that of the general public. This is deeply concerning.“

Karen Border, the executive director of the Bermuda National Trust, also rounded on Colonel Burch, saying his decision “once again demonstrates how little he regards the advice of those who have been appointed to the National Parks Commission to advocate for Bermuda’s parks”.

Ms Border said that Colonel Burch had also ignored the advice of “civil servants with environmental expertise who have responsibility for the care of our parks and open spaces”.

In his statement on Monday, Colonel Burch acknowledged that the Audubon Society, which has a seat on the National Parks Commission, had objected to the track.

Ms Border was quick to point out that the proposal was collectively rejected by the commission as a group — not just one of its 13 members.

She said: “The commission as a body rejected the proposal.

“The National Parks Commission consists of 13 appointees, only three of which represent environmental organisations. The others on the commission represent Bermuda tourism and park users, and there are four members appointed by the minister himself.

“In other words, it is a group of Bermudians representing a broad range of interests and perspectives, who did indeed — to use the minister’s own words — ‘carefully evaluate’ the motocross submission and advised against approving the event.

“As he insists on stating, the minister does have the legal right to disregard the advice of the NPC. But he surely has a very strong civic obligation to follow the advice of this legally mandated advisory body, as well as the advice of Government’s technical officers, unless he can demonstrate an urgent and overriding need to ignore that advice in the national interest.

“Allowing one entrepreneur the use of a national park — on what terms? — for his private moneymaking venture is hardly a powerful national interest argument.”

Ms Border questioned whether Walter Roban, the minister responsible for the environment, had been consulted on the project or supported it.

She said: “It is a sad day for democracy when one minister chooses to take his own advice over those who have provided their time and expertise to guide appropriate decision-making for our parks.”

A third environmental group, BEST, accused Colonel Burch of “taking full advantage of ministerial powers without reasonable justification”.

A BEST spokeswoman said: “The proposal wasn’t supported by those with the technical expertise in and around the parks department, and any assertion that without having this event at Coney Island the youth of Bermuda are being deprived is disingenuous.

“As an aside, who is paying for the excavations for the preparation for that daylong event, and then for the remediation of the site? And what is the expected cost?"

The Royal Gazette sent several questions to Colonel Burch via the Government’s press office. No response was received by press time.