NAIL BAY DEVELOPERS URGED TO COMPLY WITH RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Democratic Party (NDP) government has a keen interest in ensuring that development projects in the territory are executed in a just and fair manner and in accordance with the full requirements of the laws, it has been announced here.

Minister of Natural Resources the Honourable J. Alvin Christopher made the statement on Thursday November 6th during the 7th sitting of the 1st session of the 15th Legislative Council. He was presenting a statement on the Nail Bay situation.

In giving a background, Minister Christopher recalled that in May of 2002, Executive Council commissioned the Attorney General to undertake a comprehensive review of the Nail Bay Development Scheme (NBDS), as a result of various reports filed by Nail Bay homeowners about breaches of commitments and approvals concerning the scheme.

This report was submitted to ExCo on February 10, 2003. “It made several findings which clearly demonstrated that the developers of NBDS had been in breach of several of their development obligations, including, most critically, those for the preservation of the environment,” Hon. Christopher stated.

In light of this, the AG recommended that the developers, taking into account their significant level of investment in the scheme, could continue, but with strict compliance with the conditions yet to be met and the implementation of steps to address non compliance with conditions which ought to have been met.

The recommendations included that the road through the scheme, which remains unpaved, must be paved as a matter of urgency to arrest a further degradation of the Nail Bay environment and the coastal beaches; an erosion and sediment control plan must be submitted to Town and Country Planning for approval; restoration, stabilization and clearing works must be carried out on all the ruins, in addition to the creation of access facilities to them and historical information made available; at least one of the ruins should be shaded and picnic tables installed; the private roads giving access to the Mountain Trunk Bay, Long Bay and Nail Bay beaches should be constructed and maintained; the public parking area designated for the Long Bay beach should be properly developed; the joint venture exercise to build speculative houses with five local builders should be implemented; the operation and management of the bar and grill should be turned over to a Belonger and twelve houses should be constructed in each calendar year. Furthermore, Virgin Gorda Beach Club (VGBC) is required to executive full or substantial restoration of the destroyed beaches of Mountain Trunk and Long Bay; give a written undertaking that all future development on Nail Bay will be conducted in accordance with sound environmental management and provide an outline of the steps they intend to take to comply with the orders for compliance.

The Minister of Natural Resources and Labour said it was also ordered that as a matter of law, the Managing Director of VGBC Ajit George and his non-Belonger staff must obtain work permits.

The Attorney General also noted that government may consider revocation of the planning permission and recommended that a joint committee be established to monitor and conduct regular inspections of the Nail Bay Development Scheme.

“The report was considered and accepted by Executive Council and the implementation of the recommendations has commenced,” Hon. Christopher told the House last week. He said the Chief Minister’s Office has established a committee to monitor the NBDS and the level of compliance with unfulfilled conditions by the developers as recommended.

The Minister said government would do its part to ensure that the laws and conditions of development permits are respected.

“This government stands in the position of guardian of the territory’s environment and will jealously protect it,” he declared. “Indeed, common sense dictates that the grant of permits by government to develop land is not a licence to degrade or destroy the environment; rather, it is a licence to conduct approved development responsibly with little or no adverse effect on the natural environment.”

According to Minister Christopher, with the Nail Bay Development Scheme, we have witnessed a sad and most unfortunate degradation of our land and marine environment and this can no longer be allowed to continue. He called on the developers to carry out without any further delay, the necessary remedial measures to properly restore the environment. “On a related matter, an unhealthy relationship currently exists between the homeowners and the developers…(while) we recognize the private nature of some of the disputes, as a government, we consider it our inherent mandate to ensure that stability prevails for the good of our community,” the government Minister stated.

“We stand ready to assist all disputing parties…this dispute cannot continue indefinitely and indeed are inimical to the territory’s interests. In this vein, I will call on and encourage the homeowners and the developers to initiate meaningful dialogue as responsible citizens with the interest of the territory at heart, to bring this longstanding matter to a final rest,” he concluded.