preservation of a vast stretch of open space at the southwestern end of The Causeway, considered by many to be the "gateway'' to Bermuda.

Works Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira has tabled in the House of Assembly a submission to purchase 111/2 acres of land at Blue Hole Hill for $2.8 million.

The long-awaited purchase from the T.H.H. Outerbridge Trust would form the basis of a new national park and nature reserve.

"I am thrilled about this,'' Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto said. "It is a vitally important piece of land; a key addition to the national park system.'' The planned purchase is the first of two that will result in preservation of a block of more than 30 acres of open space along the Castle Harbour shoreline from The Causeway to beyond Tom Moore's Jungle in Walsingham Trust lands.

Government is currently trying to settle a price for the second land purchase at Blue Hole Hill. The 31/4-acre property, owned by Mr. Russell Dismont, is the subject of a compulsory purchase order. The next hearing before arbitrators is to take place in the next few weeks.

Friday's submission in the House of Assembly signals the end to more than two years negotiation with representatives of the T.H.H. Outerbridge Trust.

The negotiations were complicated by the difficulty of getting agreement from the Trust's 12 beneficiaries, now living around the world, and the settling of a price that was well below what could have been obtained on the open market.

"It's a very good price that Government has got,'' Mr. Miles Outerbridge said yesterday. "We've made a fine donation, but I'm glad Government is moving in that direction.

"This deal makes sense. We're not getting full market value by any means but by the same token we don't feel we're giving it away.'' Just under five acres of the Outerbridge land had been zoned for subdivision development. The remaining 6.7 acres are protected from development.

Dr. James Burnett-Herkes, Environment Ministry permanent secretary, described the land stretching from The Causeway and Blue Hole Hill down the Hamilton Parish shoreline as "one of the last really unspoiled examples of prehistoric Bermuda.

"It's virtually undisturbed.'' The land, whose hard-rocked base had prevented widespread development, contains plant life unique to the Island as well as the Blue Grotto where the dolphin show was held.

"It's a sensitive piece of land,'' Dr. Burnett-Herkes said. "It's a breeding habitat for wild birds, unspoiled caves, sinkholes and endemic plants. It has some of the largest olivewoods, cave ferns, pepperomia. It also has the grotto where the dolphin show used to be. All of this amounts to it being vitally important to Bermuda.'' Dr. Burnett-Herkes said decisions would be taken after the purchases on how best to develop the land for public use. He said walking trails would be constructed and the bleachers used for the Blue Grotto Dolphin show would be dismantled.

"We're hoping to complete the purchases of all the properties and to put them into a complete package with areas for nature reserve, passive recreation by the public and arable land for cultivation,'' he said.

The money for the purchase is drawn from Government's purchase of miscellaneous lands account. The purchase is part of an eight-year land acquisition policy designed in the late 1980s and fortified by an overall $13 million commitment.

Government's biggest recent land acquisition took place in 1990 when it secured tracts of land that gave it a 28-acre park at Hog Bay Level in Somerset.