Flawed Process For Nygard Plans
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
IN the face of mounting legal pressure and international attention, the government has been forced to extend its public consultation process on Peter Nygard’s proposed expansion plans at Simms Point/Nygard Cay for a further 21 days. In an embarrassing climbdown it has also had to admit to confusion and flaws in the process thus far.
Letters
obtained by The Tribune yesterday, signed by Director of Physical
Planning Michael Major and sent to Save The Bays (STB), the
environmental group leading the opposition to the development, show that
the consultation period has officially been extended because of the
department’s failure to obtain certain information about Mr Nygard’s
plans and its failure to disclose certain documents.
Concerned
residents had requested the information and documents in order to make
meaningful representations with respect to Mr Nygard’s applications.
Lawsuits
were filed this week against the government by STB and wealthy Lyford
Cay property owners, including Baha Mar Chairman Sarkis Izmirlian and
retired British actor Sir Sean Connery, seeking a judicial review of the
process.
On
June 18, the government announced the start of the initial 21-day
public consultation period that ended on Wednesday with respect to Mr
Nygard’s applications for Crown land and approvals for building,
dredging and other types of development in the surrounding seabed.
Mr
Major noted in a letter dated July 6 that despite the start of the
public consultation process, his department has not received
applications from Mr Nygard with respect to certain “future buildings”
in his site plan.
He said that Mr Nygard’s “set of architectural plans displayed are incomplete and insufficient to secure a building permit.”
He
added: “The plans displayed represent all of the plans submitted with
the application. It is customary that more plans are required by the
relevant agencies as the application progresses through the approval
process.”
Mr
Major also said that copies of certain relevant documents cannot be
given to residents and apologised for not having a study that considers
the sustainability of Mr Nygard’s work electronically available for
inspection.
“While
it is not possible to provide copies of the documents for each request,
three printed copies of each document are available to accommodate
simultaneous inspections,” the letter said. “The department will
continue to make available for public inspections, all of the
information submitted in respect to planning applications during the
consultation period.”
“We
apologise for the unavailability of the electronic version of the study
referenced ... and instead another relevant study was posted on the
BEST Commission’s web page.”
“In
light of the initial difficulties in obtaining the digital information,
consideration will be given for a reasonable extension to the
consultation period.”
That extension was granted in a letter dated July 9.
Earlier
this week, American television personality Nancy Grace and former US
Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady were among the 103 people who jointly
sued the government while expressing concerns about environmental
degradation and alleged unauthorised activities by Mr Nygard that they
believe have already taken place in the area.
The
government’s consultation exercise has been labelled a “farce” by some
critics who believe that the government might try to sanction Mr
Nygard’s plans as a favour for his financial support to the Progressive
Liberal Party (PLP) over the years.
The Tribune understands that STB will be before the Supreme Court on Monday to continue to press the case for judicial review.
July 11, 2014
