A developer has applied for permission from the Central Planning Authority to create a 100-foot canal through a mangrove buffer zone on the edge of George Town.
If approved, the 14-foot-deep canal, costing $500,000, will link an existing pond off Wallace Way to the North Sound – but it will not be used for boating.
Instead, the aim is to use the excavated fill to raise the elevation of the site of a future seniors’ home in West Bay, according to plans in the agenda for the authority’s 24 May meeting.
The application from Greta’s Grotto received lengthy objections from the Department of Environment which said mangroves are a protected species and provide storm protection.
It suggested that the developer could negotiate with the owner of a neighbouring parcel of land and excavate there instead to create an inland canal away from the mangroves.
Seniors’ home
In its application letter, Greta’s Grotto spoke about the proposed home for the elderly it plans to build on a 6.2-acre site near Pappagallo in West Bay.
“The site is an idyllic location, close to the sea, providing year-round coastal breezes for older person residents,” it wrote.
It said the “first-of its-kind” home built for Caymanians by Caymanians will be conveniently located near the proposed Aster MedCity hospital.
However, geotechnical reports have forecast that 26,728 cubic yards of fill is needed to raise the site to proposed minimum elevations of 12 feet above sea level.
This will protect residents from life-threatening evacuation during extreme weather events and long-term sea-level rise directly linked to climate change, the developer said.
“Proper elevation, fill and infrastructure hold critical importance in safeguarding human life and mitigating the effects of these natural vulnerabilities,” it added.
A natural asset
In the upcoming meeting agenda, Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of Environment, submitted her concerns on the plans for the canal excavation.
She said the site features primary habitat classified as tidally flooded mangroves, which are an “important natural asset”, and protected species under the National Conservation Act.
“Mangrove forests are a critical part of our natural environment, providing ecosystem services including mitigating the effects of climate change,” she said.
“As one of the most productive coastal habitats, mangrove wetlands are extremely biodiverse and provide habitat and food for an immense variety of species.”
The director added that mangrove wetlands are “extremely effective” at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and serve as carbon sinks.
She said the removal of mature vegetation and de-mucking of the site has the potential to release stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
The Development and Planning Regulations (2022) state that “all forms of development shall be prohibited in a mangrove buffer zone except in exceptional circumstances”.
She said the application should be considered as a quarry application not a commercial development, because the canal will not be used.
And she suggested that the developer partner with the neighbouring parcel owner and build a canal through their land instead of through the mangroves.
“This will allow the mangrove buffer to continue to provide ecological services and benefits including storm protection,” Ebanks-Petrie said.
Or acquire fill from licensed local quarries, which she described as “the fair system available to all others on the island”.
The DoE director also expressed concerns about stagnant water from the pond entering the North Sound, and of sargassum accumulating in the canal.
In conclusion she said, the department “strongly recommends” that the application is refused.
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When will developers realise the Mangroves are an important part of the ecosystem. I sincerely hope the planning department will listen to the Director of Environment Gina Ebanks-Petrie.
The Central Planning Authority must listen to the environmental experts.