George Town carpark plan causes friction between government bodies

Planning chiefs have dubbed the Department of Environment director’s rejection of plans for a George Town carpark “nonsensical” and told her to avoid issues outside of her remit.

Earlier this month, developer Cricket Square requested approval to pave an area along Whitman Seymour Road to allow drivers to have more options for parking.

But the planning application for a new 27-space carpark in George Town met with opposition from the Department of Environment for its “poor use of land”.

The Central Planning Authority, in the agenda for its 16 Aug. meeting, recommended members grant planning permission for the $50,000 project on that date.

However, DoE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie objected, saying that creating a parking lot is not the best use of the 20,000 square foot plot.

“The site is man-modified and of limited ecological value,” she wrote. “That said, the DoE considers the conversion of large areas of land to paved parking to be poor use of land.”

‘Misplaced’ and ‘nonsensical’

In the minutes of the meeting published on Thursday, 24 Aug., the authority granted approval for the carpark, saying it complies with development and planning regulations.

Members said they considered the environment director’s report but then went on to reject her contribution.

“The authority respectfully requests that the Department of Environment refrain from delving into land use planning issues which is the remit of the Central Planning Authority,” it said.

In her earlier comments, Ebanks-Petrie had said the government’s George Town Revitalisation plan aimed to improve walkability and accessibility in central George Town.

“Large paved areas can discourage walking and decrease the vibrancy and liveliness of streetscapes,” she wrote.

The environment director added that it could also contribute to issues such as greenhouse gas emissions.

She explained that large paved areas can contribute to the ‘heat island effect’, raising local temperatures and leading to increased energy consumption to meet cooling demand.

However, the authority responded that these suggestions were “misplaced” and “nonsensical”.

Ebanks-Petrie had also commented on the impermeability of typical paving materials, increasing the storm water drainage demand for the site and the surrounding area.

But, the authority responded that the Department of Environment had failed to notice that the submitted plans “clearly identify” the parking spaces as being constructed with paver bricks.

This semipermeable surface material, which helps with surface drainage, has been used for all of the parking areas for Cricket Square, it added.