trader Monroe Trout for his tree house.

Mr. Trout had the application deferred last month pending a site visit and the latest move requires that Mr. Trout must apply and be approved for a building permit.

And the DAB had resolved to put off a decision on the tree house, located at Dunbarton on Richmond Road in Pembroke, until thay had seen it.

But they have now given Mr. Trout the green light to continue the work.

Mr. Trout had imported tree house specialist Jim Gravely from Nicaragua -- where he was building an obstacle course 50 feet above ground -- to build the tree house.

At Mr. Trout's Richmond Road residence he and two other climbing buddies scaled a 75-foot silk cotton tree last year, and constructed a tree house in its branches.

It is made of pressure treated pine and redwood, held together with stainless steel bolts and cables for the bridge between its two sections.

Some neighbours complained that Mr. Trout had not got the necessary planning permission for his lofty play dwelling.

In July he submitted an application for retroactive planning permission. As part of the application he also submitted an arboricultural report on the state of the 120-year-old silk cotton tree, and a letter stating the qualifications of the experts he brought in to get the job done.

Mr. Trout is one of Bermuda's most secretive residents. A spokesman has said that it is his policy never to speak to the Press. Mr. Trout is a commodity futures trader who is the brains behind Trout Trading Management. The company runs the Hamilton Fund Ltd. which has $700 million under management and has achieved average annual returns of 25 percent.

In other DAB news, John Duncan, of the Pembroke New Testament Church of God had his application for additions to the church offices, men's and women's bathrooms and entry toilets, refused.

The board ruled that it did not conform to the requirements of the Bermuda Development Plan.

APPROVED -- Businessman Monroe Trout's treehouse has been given retroactive planning permission.