The following is a transcript of a speech given by David Wingate, at the B.E.S.T public meeting held at West Pembroke Primary School, on 22 March 2007.
Given the controversy surrounding the Southlands hotel proposal at present, a small group from the Bermuda National Trust, including myself, requested and was very kindly given a personal tour of the Southlands property by Mr. Chris Christenson, who is one of the entrepreneurs and who presently lives in the beautiful old Morgan House which he has been proudly restoring. Nestled against the hillside within a rural valley it has a commanding view of the sea and behind, on the hillside, we were given a tour of the old quarry gardens with their intricate maze of connecting paths that in some instances connect between the quarries with tunnels. The whole setting was magic, the very essence of the Bermuda image that we have traditionally projected for our tourist visitors. We all agreed, too, how wonderful if all this could become more accessible for both visitors and locals.
It has been recently reported in The Times (UK) that workers on the luxury Palm Jumeirah, sister resort to the proposed Jumeirah Southlands Resort in Bermuda, are among the 10,000 construction workers crammed into a desert labour camp on the outskirts of Dubai. The report describes how labourers from Asia are lured to Dubai with promises of well-paid jobs. However, the abuse of basic human rights has been reported, including confiscation of passports, low and unpaid wages, mass deportations and poor health and safety procedures leading to injuries, suicides and deaths. In light of Bermuda’s recent commemoration of the Slave Trade Act and our calls to end modern day slavery, the partnership between local developers and the Jumeirah group must be looked at in a new light.
Today was the deadline for any objections to the draft SDO for the Southlands Resort. BEST chairman Stuart Hayward presented more than 3,000 objections to the Minister of the Environment, Telecommunications and E-commerce including the “Save the South Shore” petition and many letters.
You can still sign the petition and write letters since the Minister will be taking a while to make her decision and although the time for official objections has now passed, expressing your opinions can still make a difference!
We’d like to give a big thanks to everyone who has written letters and/or signed the petition so far and especially to those of you who have gone out of your way to get others involved.
Below are some of the comments from the petition…
When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money. - Cree Native American prophecy. Scott Tucker, Bermudian
If the people behind this proposed project can’t see how it will further damage Bermuda’s already fragile and diminishing beauty, no word of mine will persuade them. I just hope the sheer volume of signatures of those against it will persuade them instead. Janet Wingate, Bermudian
Why when there are 4 sites that are EMPTY (Sonesta, Lantana, Club Med and Morgan’s Point) does a SDO need to be pushed through for this? Precious little open space is left on the island as it is. John Williams, Bermudian.
It’s one of the last untouched parts of Bermy. Leave it Alone! James Doughty, Bermudian
The building would come right down to the water and therefore all cliff faces would have to be obliterated.
The image below is a composite of an aerial view of the current Southlands site from Google Maps and an artist’s impression of what the Southlands Resort would look like.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
A large part of South Shore road would also be placed under a tunnel. Watch the video below to see how members of BEST marked where this tunnel would be.
Our Planning consultant has examined the draft SDO and provides the following points that can be used to craft an objection. The letters refer to sections of the draft SDO as published. (more…)
According to Chairman of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Mike Winfield, in an article published in the Royal Gazette on January 5th 2007, local staff are in short supply for the construction and operation of new hotels (more…)
Through this site you can access information about our goals and objectives, information about specific projects, links to resources, and a blog where you can leave your comments about given subjects.
As we launch this site, the project on BEST’s front burner is the Draft Special Development Order (SDO) for the hotel proposed on the Southlands property in Warwick. (more…)
