The Government has yet to finalise details regarding the Southlands land exchange deal.

And in a submission to the Draft Bermuda Plan 2008 tribunal the Department of Tourism said it wanted the Southlands property to retain its tourism zoning.

Kim White, a lawyer for Southlands Ltd. said the property owners felt they were stuck in "limbo" because a land swap to exchange their 37 acres of green space in Warwick for 80 acres of brown space at Morgan's Point had not been finalised.

Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque told The Royal Gazette: "The swap has not been effected; however, significant development discussions are ongoing between the Southlands Group and the Government."

In 2008, after much public outcry over the prospect of losing one of the Island's largest remaining unspoiled plots to a five star resort, the Government stepped in and proposed the land swap.

At the time Premier Ewart Brown, who is also Minister of Tourism, described Southlands as a "gorgeous piece of property and beach" which acts as an environmental buffer to development surrounding it. Dr. Brown said it would "most likely" become a national park.

However, the swap has yet to happen and according to the zoning maps, Southlands is still zoned as 'Tourism', while Morgan's Point is classed as a 'Special Study Area'.

Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) chairman Stuart Hayward questioned why the land swap had not taken place and also why the Government wanted to keep the area zoned for tourism when it had indicated it would be turned into a park.

"The Southlands issue presents a vexatious dilemma," Mr. Hayward said. "The Premier clearly indicated that a land exchange would take place and enable Southlands to be protected from public enjoyment.

"The absence of any discussion or proposed rezoning, in conjunction with the Department of Tourism's statement that it does not support rezoning [to protect the land from development], further highlights that there appears to be a lack of genuine intent to follow through on the promises made to the public

And he said the developers were equally frustrated: "The owners should not be in the position of having to defend existing zoning for fear the deal might not go through.

"I cannot emphasise how frustrating this exercise has been. The public fought for Southlands to be saved.

"The state of ownership of the property is in a flux, and has been so for over two years.

"The Government should have long ago completed what it began with this property and should not be attempting to retain development-related zoning where it has given the public a clear impression that such zonings are no longer necessary because of the much-touted land swap."

A spokesman for Southlands Ltd. told the tribunal that his clients had been waiting two years for the land swap to take place.

Adding: "We can't tell when the limbo we are in will end."

The Cabinet Secretary did not reply when asked if Cabinet had seen, or approved, the land swap deal.

The Department of Tourism did not reply when asked why they had objected to Southlands being rezoned to prevent future development.