Environmentalists and equestrians clashed head on last night at a public meeting to discuss plans to extend the National Equestrian Centre at Vesey Street.

The meeting had been called by Devonshire MPs John Barritt and Michael Dunkley in an attempt to bring the two groups together and discuss the matter amicably.

But, while the debate remained mostly good-natured, both camps stuck firmly to their guns, staunchly defending their respective positions and against the opposition's arguments.

David Summers of Bermuda Caribbean Engineering Consultants Ltd., the company working on the potential development, opened the debate by stressing that every other available site on the Island had been considered but eventually rejected.

He also told the packed audience at the Elliott School hall that the new centre would only take up 3.8 acres or 1.1 percent of the site's woodland reserve.

But Wayne Carey of the National Trust said the move would have a drastic effect on one of Bermuda's last hills.

And he blasted Environment Minister Irving Pearman over his decision to lift the zoning status on the site to allow the planning application to be considered, claiming it set a "dangerous precedent''.

Members of the public then spent more than an hour putting their questions to the panel.

After the meeting Mr. Barritt told The Royal Gazette : "We are trying to get away from the us-and-them situation and explore another track.

"In environmental matters these two groups should be on the same side.

"Clearly there is an element of us-and-them but if we don't have meetings like this that will remain so.'' It is possible that further public meetings on the issue could be held in the future.