Welcome to BEST

Although BEST has been relatively quiet, the Steering Committee has been meeting regularly to discuss where we have been, where we are, and how we want to evolve in the future. We have had a fantastic year and our newsletter reflects our commitment to environmental accountability/sustainability. We also have many projects and activities that will be coming up. Please check out our upcoming events section in the newsletter. We continue to keep a watchful eye on planning applications. If you hear of anything that you think should get BEST’s attention, please send an e-mail to info@best.org.bm. Thanks!

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The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) are concerned more about what is omitted by the just-published SDO for Southlands than be what is contained.

The most serious omission is that of the impact of this development when added to next door Atlantic Ltd. Development. The people depend on the government to consider the combined effects of neighbouring developments. It is totally unacceptable for the government to treat these adjacent developments as though there is no interaction, no combined impacts: environmental, visual, on traffic, on power supply and prices, on housing availability and prices, and on the cultural integrity of the neighbourhood.

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On July 26, Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield headlined a twenty-minute television and radio broadcast that explained Special Development Orders (SDOs) and attempted to justify the issuance of an SDO for the proposed hotel at Southlands. The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) believes the Minister and her Cabinet colleagues failed in this attempt. In our view, the approval of this project denigrates the planning system and reduces sustainable development concerns to irrelevance. It discounts public opinion in favour of political ends. It negatively impacts the environment, coastline and, most importantly, generations to come. It creates significant precedence for use of public lands by private developers.

Minister Butterfield described SDOs as an important tool used for responding to strategic, national issues and the development needs of the day. The Government has not shown that this particular hotel is strategic or of national importance. Bermuda’s economy is booming, prices for housing are rising out of reach of the average Bermudian, inflation is chipping into everyone’s income. Further rapid expansion of the economy will worsen cost of living issues for middle and lower income Bermudians.

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Response to Government’s announcement of the approval of an SDO for the Southlands development

Members of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) are outraged at the approval of a Special Development Order (SDO) for the Southlands development project. In March of 2007, Minister of the Environment Neletha Butterfield, made public a draft of the SDO and invited consultation – an action for which she deserved and received credit. The draft SDO was soundly discredited by planning, architectural and environmental experts. In addition, in the short period of time that was allowed for objection, thousands of island residents signed a petition against the SDO and hundreds marched in protest and sent letters of objection to both Minister Butterfield and Premier Brown.

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Despite the short notice and the early morning rain there were 200 people who came to line the road along South Shore at the Southlands Property this morning to warn their Government and fellow Bermudians that a resort at Southlands such as the one that is planned would be a crime. This crime would not just be an environmental disaster but it wold be a crime against Bermudians and set a precedent for the entire island to be completely converted into a concrete jungle where few tourists are likely to visit.Thanks to everyone who came to sound the warning. Our voices were heard despite Nelson Hunt, one of the developers, trying to silence us by revving his motorcycle engine while one of us was being interviewed by VSB news.

We are planning something even bigger soon so make sure you stay posted.

You can join BEST and stay up to date via e.mail by clicking on the “send us an e.mail” link on the right side at the top of this page.

We believe a decision by the Minister of the Environment issuing an SDO for the Southlands development is imminent.

We urge you as members of the Bermuda public to voice your protest against this decision now by doing the following;

Here are some letters that have already been written and sent to the Minister of the Environment: 

Dear Minister,
As a Bermudian I feel the development of any area of open space in Bermuda would be disastrous for our current population and devastating to the  future of our island home.  (more…)