CPA adjourns application to remove concrete slab at fish market

The Central Planning Authority has adjourned an application to remove a slab of concrete at the Red Spot Bay fish market off North Church Street, George Town.

The application was supposed to be heard on Wednesday, 12 May. However, before it could be heard, Robert Johnson – who appeared on behalf of his father, Chris Johnson, the landowner – requested it be pushed back by six weeks to allow for talks with the government to continue.

“At the moment there is a lot happening right now,” Robert Johnson told the CPA.

The concrete slab currently serves as the foundation for the tent and tables used by the fishermen to clean and sell fish.

The application is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Chris Johnson and the fishermen.

In November, Chris Johnson petitioned the courts to declare him the sole owner of the land, and to have the fishermen removed.

In December, the fishermen called on the government to purchase the property through a compulsory acquisition order. That motion was put before the Cayman Islands Parliament; however, it failed.

When questioned by the CPA on the relationship between the Johnsons and the fishermen, Robert Johnson said “there was no bad blood” and that his father’s intention is not to have the fishermen deprived of an income.

“There are problems on the site, from urban planning problems to health and safety issues,” said Robert Johnson. “People have stepped on fishbones and injured themselves, others have been injured by rebar, some have even slipped and fell because of the concrete slab. When it happens, they don’t call the fishermen, it’s my father who gets the call.”

Johnson said the government was in the process of “addressing the urban and safety issues” on the site and said the six weeks would be sufficient time for he or his father to return to the board with an update.

Even if the Johnsons had not requested an adjournment, it is unlikely that the board would have heard the application, as there were questions about whether the CPA had the power to grant such an application.

“It is within the board’s power to grant after-the-fact applications, which was the case with the neighbouring landowner who applied for an after-the-fact approval for a concrete slab on the ironshore,” said CPA chairman A.L. Thompson.

“However, that was a case where they were applying for it to be kept, not removed. We allowed it because the (National Conservation Council), said it would cause more harm than good if it was removed.”

One CPA member pointed out that, unlike the case of the concrete slab at Balboa Beach, the slab of concrete at the fish market was haphazardly poured at different times over  several years, which means it fell outside of the board’s powers to grant an after-the-fact application.

“If you are going to demolish your house, you don’t need CPA approval for that, and this is a similar case,” said Planning Department Deputy Director and CPA member Ron Sanderson.

Thompson pointed out that one potential route would be to serve an enforcement notice that would require the slab to be removed. If that route was taken, there would be no need for an application.