Prospect residents are cautiously optimistic in their battle to stave off over-development of their neighbourhood, following a House of Assembly decision on Monday night to hold off on the plans until a compromise is hammered out.

But, the residents say, there will be no compromise until long standing maintenance issues are resolved.

Issues such as overflowing sewage facilities, road resurfacing, lighting and the playground are all paid for already and in the leases, residents said yesterday, and were acknowledged on Monday night by both sides in the House of Assembly as problems which needed to be dealt with.

Neither the Progressive Labour Party Government, nor the former United Bermuda Party Government has dealt with those problems over the past 30 years, residents pointed out - and they are not to be part of the compromise.

“They cannot say OK, we'll give you all this and now we'll build 34 units,” said Prospect resident Declan Harris.

“It should've been done before anyway, it was not addressed by either the old UBP or the PLP ... I think it's only fair, because both sides in the House acknowledged the problems.

“Those issues ... need to be dealt with. Then we can talk. I hope that's what the intentions of last night were.”

Mr. Harris viewed the entire controversy as “a blessing in disguise”, saying it had brought concerns neighbours had had for years to the forefront. Former area MP John Barritt “really hit it on the head” with his speech to the House on Monday night, he added.

Mr. Harris, like neighbour Richard Leigh, did not wish to speculate on what kind of a compromise they would be willing to accept, saying they did not want to start speaking publicly on the matter until concerns with the area's infrastructure were first dealt with.

However, “We feel as though this is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Mr. Harris.

“I guess in the end it's a positive step forward for us,” said Andrew Hanwell. Mr. Hanwell, who bought his house some two years ago has first hand experience with the faulty sewage system.

“It (the house) was empty from March last year and I was fixing it up and planning on moving in myself. Every couple of months my pit would overflow and (at first) I just thought it was grease trap from kitchen waste.”

It wasn't. At one point his entire backyard was filled with sewage, he said.

“The Bermuda Housing Corporation was called and they came down and said in January they would take care of it. Since that day we've had at least one, sometimes two, sanitation trucks pumping out the sewage system daily,” Mr. Hanwell continued.

“We are cautiously optimistic, said Albertha Waite, the residents' official spokeswoman.

“This has given us, I guess, a reprieve and we came away feeling very thankful and I truly believe that this housing crisis is going to be resolved without politicking being involved. Maybe I'm naive...”

She said members on both sides of the House had performed admirably during yesterday's discussion of their concerns.

MPs agreed on Monday to kill an Opposition motion to reject Government's plans to build 34 additional units in the area, replacing it with one which bound Government to hold off on the plans until a compromise is found.