Governors Beach, one of Grand Cayman’s most popular and beloved beaches among local residents, is finally set to get public restrooms to replace the blue portable toilets that have been in place for years.
While government has abandoned its plans to build four cabanas and a playground at the beach, following objections from neighbouring residents and advice from the Department of Environment, National Roads Authority and the Department of Environmental Health, public restrooms are still on the cards.
Presenting revised plans to the Central Planning Authority at a Wednesday, 8 Nov. meeting, Public Works Department’s Dudley Ramsay, said the project now only entails the building of public bathrooms, with toilets and outdoors showers, where two portable toilets are currently in place, and the addition of a mobility mat for beachgoers with disabilities.
The original plan had raised objections from several residents and the executive committee of the strata from The Pinnacle condos, next to the beach, who were opposed to the construction of the cabanas and the toilet block.
Objectors who attended Wednesday’s meeting continued to raise concerns about the potential devaluing of their property if public bathrooms are built adjacent to their property’s fence, and asked for the toilets – which, according to the plans, would be 20 feet from the fence – to be moved further away.
Ramsay explained that moving the toilets from the planned location would likely impact parking at the beach and would necessitate the clearing of some vegetation. He said care had been taken in drawing up the plans to remove as little vegetation from the site as possible.
‘Elephant in the room’
Board member Christine Maltman, bringing up what she described as the “elephant in the room”, asked why the bathrooms could not be built at the other side of the site, by the governor’s residence, where it would only impact one household rather than several. She noted that there was less vegetation to remove on that side as it contains mostly grass and invasive Casuarina trees.
“Historically, the governor’s house has been up for debate as to whether it needs to belong there or not. There would be less chance, I believe, if you moved it to that side, of disturbing the vegetation,” she said, and queried if, in project briefings, Public Works had been instructed not to “go anywhere near the governor’s house”.
Ramsay, who confirmed that Public Works was acting on behalf of its client, the Ministry of District Administration and Lands, on this project, responded, “My initial thought was the governor’s [residence] has always had security and privacy, and that was probably one of the reasons why I did not locate it to the south side.”
Asked by Maltman if he’d received a proviso not to place the public restrooms there, he replied, “Not necessarily, no.”
However, he added that, originally the children’s playground had been mooted to be erected on that side of beach car park, but “we were indirectly, by our client, advised ‘do not to put anything on that side'”.
Nighttime loitering
The neighbours at Pinnacle also raised concerns about people loitering at night by the ill-lit fence area where the portable bathrooms are located.
One objector, in a letter, queried if drug dealing and prostitution may be going on at the site at night.
Ramsay noted that several other public restrooms are locked at nights, and suggested that this could also be done at Governors Beach once the new facilities are erected.
Michael Baulke, representing The Pinnacle strata executive committee, asked for an assurance that the bathrooms would be secured at night, saying people hanging around at night on the beach was a “real concern” for the property owners.
Sacrificed plans
Public Works’ Cathy Seymour, who has recently been assigned as the project’s manager, explained said several elements of the original plan – including the playground, the cabanas and a dumpster – had been dropped because the neighbours’ objections had been heard and acted upon.
She told the objectors, “From where this started to where this is today, there has been a great sacrifice… They have done a lot to mitigate.”
Asked by Seymour how much further from their fence the objectors could accept the new facilities, they agreed that 5 feet further away may suffice. Another concession would be the addition of more vegetation between the restrooms and the fence, creating a further buffer, Seymour said.
She said she hoped that a “balance” could be struck to accommodate both the Pinnacle residents and the users of the beach because “I really want to see those portable toilets removed.”
The Central Planning Authority’s decision on the matter will be published in the minutes of the meeting which are typically available online within a couple of weeks of the hearings.
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