As another proposal is submitted to the Central Planning Authority for a housing subdivision in East End, Cayman’s environment director is asking members to put decision making on hold.
Gina Ebanks-Petrie said she “strongly recommends” the authority instead takes the time to conduct a comprehensive review of the need for more subdivisions of parcels in the area.
“The impact of a further residential subdivision on existing infrastructure and the environment of the island should be properly considered and evaluated,” she insisted.
Man-O-War-Cliff has applied to create a 49-lot residential subdivision on a 13.6-acre parcel of land off Will Jackson Drive in East End at a cost of $46,000.
Several of the proposed lots are under the 60-foot regulated width requirement.
In the agenda documents for the planning authority’s Wednesday, 27 Sept. meeting when the application will be considered, Ebanks-Petrie says the Department of Environment does not support its approval.
Writing under authority of the National Conservation Council, she said she appreciates the need for affordable housing but this density of subdivision has not been proven to be necessary.
A comprehensive review should look at the overall impact on the infrastructure, environment and population of East End from further subdivision, the director said.
This needs to take place in the absence of an updated Development Plan for Cayman which would have provided a strategic framework for development, she added.
The last development plan was created back in 1997. In 2022, Premier Wayne Panton said a multi-year project to create a new plan will not be completed before 2025.
Clearing and filling
Ebanks-Petrie said the Department of Environment also does not support the authority’s position of allowing the clearing and filling of all lots, without imminent development.
Natural habitat and native vegetation can be incorporated into parks, play areas and amenity spaces to provide multiple benefits to a community.
“But that opportunity is lost when the area is prematurely cleared,” she said, adding that some subdivisions that were cleared and filled over 30 years ago have still not been developed.
This results in biodiversity loss, proliferation of invasive species and habitat fragmentation, with no social or economic benefit to offset it, the environment director said.
“If there is no intention to develop these lots, then there is no social benefit or improved living environment for the people of East End,” she added.
And this cannot be set against the environmental harm from habitat fragmentation and loss, or use of resources, she said.
The latest application site consists of a mixture of primary dry forest and woodland, and primary dry shrubland habitat and man-modified areas.
Ebanks-Petrie said these habitats are of high ecological value and provide a biodiverse habitat for native wildlife.
She recommended that if the application is approved, there should be no land clearing, excavation, filling or development of the resultant parcels without planning permission.
And that any future development, clearing, filling or excavation of the subdivided parcels should be the subject of a separate consultation with the National Conservation Council.
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