Senators passed legislation allowing the government to purchase a small strip of privately owned land at the centre of a dispute between the owners of the property and a hotel.

The deal will cost the taxpayer about $500,000 when legal fees are included, and in exchange, the government will acquire a patch of property on Secretary Lane in St George's with an appraised value of $30,000.

In reading the Bill, Leslie Robinson, Junior Minister for Public Works, reminded the public that Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, said previously that “a Progressive Labour Party government would never take any Bermudian rightfully owned land.”

When the Government opened the golf course to the public in the 1980s, Gardene Gibbons and her late husband, Shirley, agreed to allow a golf-cart path to run through their property on the condition that an alternative route was provided to the couple and other residents through Somner Lane, which is a private estate road.

A dispute broke out in 2021 after the Government leased the course to Hotelco Bermuda Holdings.

Hotelco objected to residents using Somner Lane as a route to their homes. Planners then granted the developer planning approval to block motorised traffic from using it.

In response, Mr and Mrs Gibbons blocked the golf cart path on their property to hotel guests playing golf.

Following the approval of the legislation, the Government will pay the owner $450,000 to acquire the land needed for the golf carts. It will also pay $50,000 in legal fees.

Douglas de Couto, shadow economic development minister and the One Bermuda Alliance spokesman in the Senate for works and engineering, tourism and legal affairs, said while he welcomed the legislation, he said: “I wish government could have resolved this in a much more expedited matter”.

John Wight, independent senator, said he was “sympathetic to the plight of the Gibbons” and that he supported the Bill.

Owen Darrell, the Government Senate Leader, thanked and commended Colonel Burch who was present in the sessions, adding, “there have been many twists and turns, this brings some relief to the Gibbonses after all these years”.