MPs last night agreed to withdraw planning application for 34 new homes in the Alexandra and Mary Victoria Roads area of Prospect pending a compromise with residents.

The move came after debate on a motion moved by Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert calling for no more construction in the neighbourhood.

Opening the debate, Mr. Furbert said there were 120 letters from residents in the Mary Victoria Road area complaining about the planned 34 new homes.

The UBP?s motion said the extra houses on the site would add to social, safety and economic problems and trash.

Mr. Furbert said the UBP recognised the housing crisis and at the last election planned to build an extra 100 low cost homes at Tudor Hill, Southampton.

He said there were other plots of BHC and Government land that could be used other than the Mary Victoria Road area, but Government didn?t have a comprehensive housing plan.

Mr. Furbert said Housing Minister said he was ?powerless? because the Mary Victoria Road plan had come from his predecessor Terry Lister and he had to follow it.

Mr. DeVent said it was which said he was powerless, however Mr. Furbert said the Minister did not seek a correction.

As Minister, Mr. DeVent could tell Bermuda Housing Corporation to build elsewhere.

?At the 12th hour they are trying to build houses in an area that is already crowded and will create more problems. They don?t understand the issues we are facing in this country and if they had any compassion they would reject these plans,? said Mr. Furbert.

The land was vested from the Crown to BHC in the 1970s and houses that sold then for between $10,000 and $16,000 were now selling for between $350,000 and $400,000 giving Bermudians real equity.

There were 169 units son the site now and with 534 people and the extra 34 planned units could put in an extra 150 people.

Police didn?t deal with the problems of youths ?seniors are terrified, they are selling drugs and there is Pit Bull fighting,? said Mr. Furbert. ?And you think we should put up 34 more units? It would get worse.?

Local PLP MP interjected: ?In 1996 you (the UBP) zoned it for additional housing. It?s hypocritical. Political hypocrites.?

Mr. Furbert said former Housing Minister Terry Lister had said it was zoned for 249 houses, meaning an additional 80 units could be put in.

But Mr. Furbert said leaseholders had already leased defined plots of land so Bermuda Housing Corporation could not build there without breaking leases.

And he said the extra houses could lower the value of existing homes and possibly increase crime.

He said residents had sent letters to Mr. Blakeney and nearby MP and Finance Minister Paula Cox, but Ms Cox angrily protested that she had not received a single letter or phone call from the residents.

Mr. Furbert said: ?No one knew about the changes in the area, not even the local representative (Mr. Blakeney) and he was supposed to be in the (PLP) caucus. The Minister just made the announcement.?

He said Mr. Blakeney had said Mr. Lister would meet with BHC and bring to it the residents? concerns, but then the Minister accused them of being NIMBY?s (not in my back yard?. ?Then he hit them with a guilt trip? about housing brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts.

On February 24 the residents complained they had lost faith in Mr. Blakeney, said Mr. Furbert.

He said he would not leave the PLP without a solution, and reiterated the UBP?s election pledge to build 100 homes at Tudor Hill. There was also BHC land at Cut Road and Redcoat Lane, St. George?s, and at the Arcadia building in the Old Town.

In addition, Bermuda Land Development Corporation, the West End Development Corporation and Works and Engineering had land which could be used for affordable housing.

?If this was the only land left in Bermuda I am sure most residents would try to come to a compromise, but there is more land which BHC has,? said Mr. Furbert.

?There are other solutions, and by rejecting this development up there you allow the Minister to think outside the box and get his programme done.

?Why is the Minister so strong on building property on Mary Victoria Road? I don?t understand, especially when the residents are objecting.

?Especially when you have open space that is limited. Especially when the community has been built up over 30 years.?said: ?It is very difficult to defend not building houses in this country when there are people living in cars and people living in trees.?

The area was zoned residential one in 1992 for a maximum of 20 units per acre and with 11.69 acres, there could be 233 homes there.

?The addition of 34, which is what is being proposed, is well below the 233,? said Mr. DeVent.

?There is an immediate need for housing. These are houses that could come on line much quicker because the intention is go up on existing property.?

He said Mr. Furbert?s suggestion that the flat topped homes could not accommodate additional property was ?far fetched? because architects and engineers had looked at it.

?I have spoken to residents and there is still room for compromise and I say we need housing, let?s embrace compromise and (for the UBP) to come and say ?no housing in the area? is for political points.?

Water supply would be the same as before and new cesspits would take some of the strain off the antiquated sewage pipes, said Mr. DeVent.

?Historically, that side (UBP) have supported the haves over the have-nots. I fully understand the residents? concerns are concerns that this country finds everywhere.

?For us to make political usage is sin, suicidal and genocidal. If we don?t begin to embrace the growing number of people in this country that don?t have homes ? without a home you can?t build families ? then you will begin to produce the people who pull guns and don?t give a hat about anything.

?If you continue to make this a political issue, I am glad the Press is here and I want them to report everyone who spoke against housing.?

Mr. DeVent said he was also considering all the sites mentioned by Mr. Furbert and may build there, but not all were zoned for housing so could not address the ?immediate need?.

He said he was approached on a daily basis by families where the father lived in one house and the mother and children were crowded into another.

?If we can?t compromise in this House with our families and our brothers and our sisters then we are in deep trouble.?

His grandmother had taught him that ?there but for the grace of God?.