Nearly 600 residents have signed a petition to strongly object to plans by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts to build 91 condos on a par-three golf course.

In addition, 19 visitors who came to Bermuda to play golf also sent objections to the Department of Planning on March 31.

?The more condominiums that Bermuda builds the more it takes away from the tourist trade,? Lynda Stoddard of Jupiter, Florida said.

Arthur Bouge of Mt. Dora, Florida said the hotel was making a huge mistake, shortening the course from 18 to ten holes and building 145 units on the property.

?I would not come to play here if this becomes a ten-hole course,? Christopher Sullivan of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey said. ?The course will be ruined by the 145 condos.?

Ann Leever of Salem, Massachusetts said condos were not part of Bermuda.

?Bermuda is a very special place!? Ms Leever said. ?Please keep it special. People want service and hotel services.?

Flora Irish, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, said it would be a shame to lose the best par-three golf courses in Bermuda.

?We heard that you were going to shorten the course,? Edward Guest of London said. ?Please don?t ruin a great course. We?re coming back and expect to see it just the way it is.?

Don Kaus of Waterdown, Ontario was also disappointed to hear of the hotel?s plan.

?This is a beautiful course and a landmark of Bermuda,? Mr. Kaus said. ?I hope it is not the last time we?ll get to play it.?

Another petition with 579 signatories agreed the tourism product was changing and that ?mixed-use? was the new buzz-word in the industry, but that this could be dealt with by building 54 exclusive units at Heritage Place on Turtle Hill.

?We do not begrudge Fairmont in their quest to make money, offer shareholder value and provide employment to Bermudians,? it said.

?What we do object to is a plan that we feel can be better thought out and not result in the permanent loss of valuable green space and recreational areas to our future generations.?

Even employees of the Fairmont Southampton Golf Shop voiced their objection to Planning, saying it would create another eyesore on an already overbuilt Island.

?We ask you to consider the irony of creating 90 golf villas at the expense of the golf course itself,? the objection letter said.

?I am so appalled (sic) as at every corner I turn I see more and more of the concrete jungle pouring in over what was tradition, beauty and nature,? Alicia Wanklyn, of Knapton Hill, Smith?s, told Planning on March 30.

?All Bermudians should watch the movie ?Wall Street? when one of our most famous Bermudians asserts that ?greed is good? and take note of the principal of hostile takeovers where corporations buy healthy companies and sell them off piecemeal for their parts with no regard to what they produce, their value to society or the individual lives they will impact,? Dr. Philippe Max Rouja told Planning in his objection letter.

?This is exactly what Fairmont Southampton has proposed in the conversion of recreational land (previously agricultural) into residential units sold for profit.?

Dr. Rouja said the farm land was sold with the intent that it could be easily reverted back to agriculture, however, the development of condos was irreversible.

?That they would suggest such a plan demonstrates their complete lack of care for the patrimony and internal security of Bermuda,? Dr. Rouja said.

He also objected to Fairmont?s proposed revamp of Whale Bay, near Horseshoe Beach.

?The dolphin facility has not been dismantled and any further foreshore development without cleaning the previous mess is again an insult to Bermuda,? he said. ?It seems odd that just after the sale of the hotel chain this radical plan should be presented to the Bermuda public without due diligence by the new owner.?

Carol Sims of Port Royal Gardens, Southampton said it all boiled down to the all-mighty dollar.

?I think to myself those people putting forth these changes will be gone in a few years leaving us with a permanent loss of open space, a mess of concrete condos and a traffic problem to go along with it,? Ms Sims said.

The Development Applications Board (DAB) had not yet reached a decision about Fairmont?s applications.