Politicos get earful of environmental concerns

Several George Town electoral candidates turned up to listen to concerns from South Sound residents about development along the coastline of the sound on Friday evening. 

Among the speakers were residents Katrina Jurn, Melissa Wolfe and John McKenzie, who described the issue as one that not only concerned South Sound, but one that would set a “dangerous precedent” for all of the coastline in the Cayman Islands. 

Ms Jurn said that South Sound is a Marine Replenishment Zone that is protected by the Marine Conservation Law and is also designated Scenic Coastline by the Development Plan. 

The Central Planning Authority granted planning permission for the Emerald Sound development project in August 2011 to cut a canal though the road from the sound inland to the development’s marina. The plan would also move the existing road 75 feet inland and create a bridge over the canal. 

The Protect South Sound group has appealed that decision and the hearing on this is pending.  

The group also launched legal action last year to stop fill from being dumped by the developer into the sound, for which the planning authority had also granted permission. The Grand Court granted the group a temporary injunction, but Protect South Sound dropped its action in November to concentrate on the main appeal against the development, after which the deposit of fill and the reclamation work in the sound continued. 

“We were able to get the developer to agree not start the construction of the seawall until the Planning Appeals Tribunal has heard the appeal,” said Katrina Jurn, who added: “The sound has been significantly damaged. The coastal mangroves along those 2,000 feet of coastline are gone. The natural coastline lies under 30,000 cubic yards of fill or more. 

“However, potentially the worst is yet to come. If we allow this CPA approval to stand unchallenged, many other coastal property owners around the island will seek to do the same. It’s extremely important that we take this to the Planning Appeals Tribunal in order to protect not just South Sound but our entire coastline.” 

She said she was happy to see so many political candidates at the meeting as government intervention was vital to ensure the protection of Cayman’s natural environment because the private sector could do not it by itself.  

“We really need to change the approach within all levels – the private sector and the government – and we desperately need our National Conservation Law,” she said. 

A draft of the conservation law is still in limbo within government and has not yet been tabled in the Legislative Assembly.  

United Democratic Party MLA for George Town Mike Adam, the People’s Progressive Movement’s Leader of the Opposition Alden McLaughlin, independent candidates Jude Scott and Stefan Baraud, PPM candidates Kenneth Bryan, Marco Archer and Lucille Seymour, among others, were at the meeting at a South Sound home overlooking the sound where developer Rene Hislop has filled along the coastline.  

The Protect South Sound organisation was set up in summer 2011 to oppose the Emerald Sound development. 

One of the group’s spokesmen, Mr. McKenzie said the issue was of national importance, which urgently needed to be addressed.  

“South Sound is the only coastal mangrove in Grand Cayman, outside of North Sound. Sadly, it was never protected,” he said. 

Along South Sound Road, to drive home their point, residents have erected “No Canals” signs. 

The contentious argument over the permission granted to Mr. Hislop in August 2012 to reclaim some 2,000 feet of land from the sound and move the location of the approved seawall about 50 feet south revolves around whether a coastal boundary can be permanently fixed. 

Mr. Hislop and his lawyer, Samuel Jackson, contend that the coastal boundary was identified and fixed by a 1999 survey and that the area Mr. Hislop wished to fill belonged to him.  

The Central Planning Authority agreed with this argument when it granted permission, stating: “The authority considered the application further and accepts the applicant’s attorney’s argument that the seaward boundary is fixed and that the applicant has the legal right to develop to that boundary.”  

But Mr. McKenzie told attendees at Friday’s meeting that this decision appeared to flout current planning rules that require homeowners who want to build at the waterfront to get a survey within six months of acquiring planning approval.  

“That’s totally been ignored,” he said. “He’s going on a coastline that is set back in 1999 and he’s filled out to that now to the point where it’s 50 feet beyond his original approval for those three lots were Emerald Villas are now. This sets a dangerous precedence for the whole country, not just South Sound … Everywhere around the coastline, you will be able to say ‘my boundary back in 2000 was out here, so I’m going to fill out to here and build a seawall.” 

“It’s important that we fight this and we get this law corrected or get the interpretation of the law corrected. Really, this is not a South Sound issue or residents’ issue, this matter really is a government issue and government should be dealing with it,” Mr. McKenzie said. 

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