A Special Development Order was granted for a 220-suite hotel to be built — very close to the proposed Southlands development.

The Grand Atlantic Resort and Residences will be built in Warwick on the plot of land which currently holds derelict buildings, green space and an area zoned ‘woodlands’.

The SDO was made public last week and the Opposition spokesman for Environment, Cole Simons, said it was another example of the Government’s “fast-tack decision-making” and branded it “anti-democratic”.

He added that it showed the Government was not able to work within its own framework, the Bermuda Development Plan.

The hotel built on the 13.1 acre Warwick site on South Road. To the east of its border is Astwood Walk and the Warwick gas station, the plot stretches westward just beyond the bend in South Road where it junctions with Dunscombe Road.

According to the plans, the hotel will rise nine storeys with 220 rooms offering a maximum total of 706 beds, including a six-bedroom penthouse suite.

There will also be two five-storey high blocks of 20 two-bedroom fractional ownership apartments, five three-bedroom villas, 20 three-bedroom units in two-storey blocks and 22 two-bedroom and ten one-bedroom units.

Also foreseen is a twin two-storey retail area on an approach road to the hotel and resort.

There will also be terrace and dining room restaurants, a beach bar and grill terrace, lounge bar, ballroom, swimming pool, spa, fitness centre and roof top tennis courts.

The SDO, which was in Thursday’s official Gazette, said that the owners — Atlantic Development — would have to provide training for three years to at least 50 percent of its Bermudian employees.

It also stipulates that before a building permit is granted the Development Applications Board have to approve the external appearance and landscaping. The Chief Environmental Health Officer will also have to sign off on all sewage treatment and disposal as well as plans for the collection and distribution of rainwater.

But Opposition MP Cole Simons said he was concerned that another SDO was being granted for hotel development.

He said: “Its decision to grant an SDO to Grand Atlantic Resort and Residences owes more to its push to project a ‘can do’ image than to sound, people-based planning and respect for public input.

“The go-ahead for the development of the 13-acre Golden Hind site, along with the impending SDO for the nearby Southland’s, will effectively wipe out the last large green space in Warwick.

“The PLP Government’s reliance on SDOs is anti-democratic, and an admission that it is unable to work within a system that was designed to ensure people have a role in decisions about the future of the island.”

He added that there does not appear to be an overall plan for development in Bermuda.

He said: “There is, moreover, a frightening lack of foresight at work - a lack of overall planning discipline - that prevents the country from making smart decisions about how our disappearing open spaces should be best used.

“The most glaring breakdown in the system is the PLP failure to update the Bermuda Development Plan, leaving us to face the current wave of hyper-development with a plan that was put together more than 15 years ago.

A spokeswoman for the National Trust said it applauded the discussion to build on a site which has previously been used as opposed to untouched land.

But, she added: “It would have been an additional benefit if the SDO had clearly delineated and protected the Conservation Areas (an area that contains important natural features within which development is precluded or controlled), within this parcel of land, so that the development does not encroach onto them.”

In the last decade 16 Special Development Orders have been made

Ritz Carlton, City of Hamilton - December 2006

Wyndham Resort, Southampton - August 2006

Loughlands Development, Paget - July 2006

Manufactured Homes Housing Project, Sandys - November 2005

Newstead Hotel, Paget - May 2004

Belmont Hills Golf Club, Hotel, Warwick - April 2004

Cliff’s Resort, Warwick - April 2004

Sonesta Beach Hotel, Southampton - April 2003

Pembroke Hamilton Club, Warwick - January 2003

Residential Treatment Facility, Devonshire - January 2003

Harbour Court Tucker’s Point Club, St. George’s - October 2001

Tucker’s Point Club Hotel & Spa, St. George’s - July 2001

Elbow Beach Club Belmont Property, Warwick - April 1999

Berkeley Institute, Pembroke - February 1999

Destination Villages, Sandys - February 1999

Bermuda Equestrian Centre, Devonshire - October 1997