The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) has noted positive changes in the plans for a new St George’s Hotel, according to Stuart Hayward, but some questions remain.

Plans for the 122-key St Regis hotel were presented to the Department of Planning earlier this month, and the full submissions have since been placed online at the department’s website.

The planning documents state that the hotel development had been moved southwest of its initial intended location at the edge of St Catherine’s Beach due to concerns raised.

While Mr Hayward said BEST was still poring over the application, which stretches more than 880 pages, he said the decision to move the hotel site further away from St Catherine’s Beach was a good one.

And he said that concerns about public access to the beach have been met in the application.

However, he said the project needed a construction environment management plan, and asked questions about the wastewater treatment facility for the project.

“Will this be tied in to the government strategy study currently being advertised or will a separate one be needed for the hotel?” he asked.

“It looks like it might be slated for Woodland Reserve.”

The study, announced in June by Craig Cannonier, the Minister of Public Works, is intended to formulate a strategy for sustainable water and wastewater servicing for St George’s and is hoped to be completed by next March.

Mr Hayward said the study would satisfy a “long-held need” to address the issue of the island’s water supply and the disposal of sewage and waste water.

“It sounds like a good pilot to get this right before then applying to the rest of Bermuda,” he said.