The Fairmont Hamilton Princess is to receive a facelift.

A Planning application has been submitted to renovate three entrances to the hotel, including the main entry.

The plans involve new parapet roofs at the main entrance and buttery link building, plus a new roof at the pool wing. All will also feature semi-circle windows. The hotel has also applied for construction of a toilet and towel dispensing building at Bay Way.

In St. George's meanwhile, the town Corporation has applied for a floating dock off Bridge Street to accommodate dinghies from visiting yachts.

The raft would be situated in Market Wharf, near the toilet block off King's Square — a listed building. The block dates back to the early nineteenth century and features a non-lapped stone roof and unusual small false chimneys. In the 1870s it housed the McCallans grocery store and bake house, and in the 20th century it was in turn Annie Beach's restaurant, a tavern, Ernest Smith's tailor shop, plus a jewellery business of George Rankin Sr.

The Historic Buildings Advisory Committee has registered no objection to the application. In a letter to Planning, chairman Larry Mills said: "The committee had no objection to the installation of a floating dock at the proposed location, noting that the structure would not obscure views of historic St. George's and would in fact facilitate access to the town."

Elsewhere in the East End, the new Urgent Care Centre at Southside will serve as a 'disaster centre' in the event of a natural catastrophe or air crash.

Agents OBM Ltd said three to four disaster recovery tents for emergency medical procedures will be set up in the car park "in the event of a disaster situation such as hurricane or an airport crash at or near the airport".

The Urgent Care Centre, which has been approved by Planning, will be located on the former US baseland at Southside on land leased to the Bermuda Hospitals Board by the Bermuda Land Development Corporation.

The facility will be staffed by up to five full-time medical staff and three ancillary staff, providing outpatient emergency care plus triage for patients on their way to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Ambulances will access the centre from Southside Road, with all other vehicles entering off Hall Street.

In approving the plans, the Development Applications Board said: "The emergency care facility will have a potentially significant impact on health services in the east and therefore has national importance. From a planning perspective the proposal is considered reasonable."

The Urgent Care Centre will open between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and anticipates an average of 12 outpatients per day. It will feature treatment rooms, a lab and radiography, pharmacy, nurses station, reception area, staff lounge, information technology room and ambulance station.