The National Trust is appealing to the owners of old Caymanian homes and other heritage sites to contact them before going ahead with plans to demolish or relocate buildings.
The appeal follows the sudden bulldozing of two homes – both built in the 1930s – in George Town last week.
In a statement to the Cayman Compass, the Trust said it had not been made aware of the “impending demolition of Captain Ainsley Bodden’s House and Captain Benny Bodden’s House on North Church Street in George Town”.
The structures – one of which had housed Da Fish Shack restaurant, while the other was unoccupied but had in recent years been the site of an art gallery – were knocked down on Sunday, 7 Aug., leading to an outcry from many members of the community who called for action to be taken to protect Cayman’s built heritage.
In light of the razing of those homes, the Trust said it was “renewing the call for the public to engage in dialogue with the National Trust about any relocation or demolition plans owners may have for heritage homes and historic landmarks, especially those listed on the National Trust’s Heritage Register, like the Bodden homes were”.
The Trust’s register lists more than 350 heritage sites across the three Cayman Islands. It includes structures that were added when the list was first drawn up in the 1990s and which have since been demolished, or were destroyed or damaged beyond repair during Hurricane Ivan.
The Trust acknowledged that “unfortunately, under the current Development and Planning Act (2021 Revision) home owners are not legally bound” to inform authorities of plans to tear down or move structures on property they own.
Although there are some provisions in the Development and Planning Act and its associated regulations, and in the Development Plan drawn up in 1997, regarding protecting historic buildings, especially those in historic overlay zones, “those provisions require significant strengthening and specificity”, the Trust stated.
It noted that the PACT government had commissioned the organisation to form a sub-committee in January this year “to inform them on updating the statutory framework for protecting built heritage in our islands, and the National Trust has been in the process of creating a document that will assist the Government in this regard”.
The Trust added, “It is expected that the input from this National Trust Sub-Committee will help to strengthen the limited protections that exist presently, while adding new provisions that will be fit for purpose going forward.”
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