<Bz12.5>DEVELOPERS planning to build a controversial hotel at Southlands are also in talks to redevelop a public golf course.</Bz12.5>And the news has raised alarm that the Port Royal golf course could be swallowed up by the mega resort —
Southlands Resort Development Ltd. plans to build the five-star resort on the 37-acre property on South Shore in Warwick. The 300-suite cliff-side hotel would offer tourist accommodation in a variety of suites and condominiums and would feature five restaurants and bars, a night club, spa, swimming pools, equestrian centre and conference centre.
Dubai-based Jumeirah Group wants to open the resort by next summer, after a Special Development Order was approved by Cabinet.
But the controversial application has provoked anger among environmental campaigners.
Yesterday, Craig Christensen, of Southlands Resort Development, said: “We’re not officially involved at the moment but we have had some early discussions.
“We understand that it’s going under redevelopment and I think that’s well known. Certainly any form of link-up between Port Royal and Southlands would give us a great degree of prestige.
“It was built in the 1970s and they haven’t redone the greens since then. But it’s a beautiful lay-out and we think that, by putting in modern-day grasses and a little redesign, it could be a fabulous course.”
Mr. Christensen did not specify if his company was in talks with Government or an independent Board of Trustees, which oversees the management of the island’s three public courses.
But yesterday Board chairman Wendall Brown denied that his organisation was in negotiations with the developer. Professional golfer and Opposition Senator Kim Swan expressed alarm that members of the public could miss out on what he described as a world-class facility.
He questioned if a redesign was totally necessary, and if so, demanded to know if the contract had gone out to tender.
And he also asked why general maintenance could not be handled by Works & Engineering staff pointing out that the course was now in good shape.
Senator Swan said: “There is a Board of Trustees for the three Government golf courses which have provided excellent facilities for both locals and tourists alike. They have also been a type of facility that all hotels have been able to plug into — no hotel has had exclusivity.
“At the last Bermuda Open, which I played in, the Port Royal course was in a lot better condition than in previous years.
“It played very fairly, you didn’t hear any negative talk and most golfers recognised that a great deal of effort had been put in to get it up to shape.
“It was designed by the famous Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and I have gone on the record as saying that, as the years have gone on, any modernisation would be done in the spirit of restoring it to the same themes in which it was designed.
“As far as modernising Port Royal goes, I don’t see anything wrong in that but the most important thing is that golfers are the benefactors of public golf.
“I would like to know if public golf in Bermuda is in jeopardy. Over the years there has been a graduation towards resort-type golf but we need to maintain the delicate balance of meeting both the needs of our own public and our visitors.
“My concern is the erosion of public courses, which would not be the case if Government had developed Morgan’s Point when it was on the table in 1998.
“It would have been built by now, the buzz would have been created and we wouldn’t be in a position where we are looking at more hotels crowding onto a public course.
“Bermuda is becoming more and more the playground for the upper echelons while becoming less obtainable to Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda.
“In 1979 I would not have been able to go to Europe and get my European tour card had the seed not been planted here in Bermuda’s public courses.
“Has the contract been put out to tender? The public golf courses used to come under the jurisdiction of the Works & Engineering Minister.
“Now they are under the Premier as Minister of Tourism. Why does Government need to sub-contract out something it is fully capable of maintaining?
“Having heard this I’m going to keep my eye on St. George’s. If both these courses were to evaporate we would be back to the 1950s when golf was only played by those who could afford it.
“You can’t compare Bermuda with Dubai and I’m worried that we’re going to displace the lion’s share of Bermudians while we’re on a little bit of political Novacaine. If someone is going to float that balloon then I feel I need to send up a warning flare.
“I’m not concerned about the integrity of the people who may win the contract, it’s the fact that we have to remember that public facilities only remain public because Government keeps them public.
“Government needs to be put on notice and I hope that they respect the need for public courses to remain public.
“Port Royal is a world-class facility designed by a top US designer and the working man can come and play at a price that isn’t going to break the bank. Public facilities have to be affordable for the average working man.”
