Green group BEST has called for a more extensive environmental survey to be conducted on the South Basin marina project.

Chairman Stuart Hayward said parts of the existing report had been taken from a previous Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted on Heritage Wharf.

He called on developers to take a new, more in depth look at the environmental impacts the marina will have on the area surrounding the proposed development.

But West End Development Company boss, Andrew Dias, dismissed the suggestions, saying that Wedco had done everything it could to consider environmental effects. Mr Hayward told The Royal Gazette that the marina project highlighted the need for Bermuda to implement a Marine Development Plan to control and regulate marine construction projects.

“It is unfortunate that the South Basin EIA appears to have been tagged together with the old Heritage Wharf one,” he said.

“Furthermore, several sections of the Heritage Wharf EIA that have been included in the South Basin EIA are largely irrelevant to what is planned on the South Basin.

“This project highlights the need for a Marine Development Plan that sets out minimum development standards as we do with land-based projects. Bermuda does not have one, so there are no clear-cut regulations or guidelines when it comes to building at sea.

“There are four different marinas in various stages of development in Bermuda and we need to ask the question, do we really need all of them?”

Mr Dias told The Royal Gazette that the EIA for the South Basin project was adequate and relevant.

“Wedco has consulted with many different groups during this process,” he said. “There are excerpts of the South Basin EIA that are the same as the Heritage Wharf EIA but that is hardly surprising given the fact they are within a short distance of each other. We have done everything we can to do our due diligence on this project.

“This EIA we have had done clearly illustrates the pros and the cons of this development that will allow a reasonable decision to be made by planning.

“We will never be able to please everyone, but we feel we have done everything we can.

“The EIA for the South Basin is both relevant and sufficient to make a decision.”

The South Basin marina is expected to be a focal point in the 2017 America’s Cup and the teams taking part in the sporting spectacle will be based in Dockyard.

Mr Hayward said he had been encouraged by the noises coming from those tasked with ensuring that the event goes off without a hitch.

“I feel good about the America’s Cup as a whole,” he said.

“We have been in contact with Mike Winfield from the ACBDA and have been going through the machinations of having a meeting very soon.

“The initial signs that Mr Winfield and the America’s Cup are making are encouraging.

“If we look back at AC34 in San Francisco, there was a high degree of environmental awareness and we hope that remains the case in Bermuda.

“We are sensitive to the various factors and that there is a lot that wants to happen in a short space of time.”