Environmentalist Stuart Hayward has accused health chiefs of failing to be transparent with the public about future plans for the current King Edward VII Memorial Hospital site.

He told a meeting on Saturday that Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) planned to keep the 14-acre area in a land bank to be developed on in the future.

BHB has said that the site would be returned to ?park-like? land if the Government decides to build a new $500m hospital in the Botanical Gardens.

But Mr. Hayward, a member of the Government-appointed Sustainable Development Round Table, said there would be no protection for the land and nothing to stop another hospital being built there in future years ? an idea, he said, which had already been discussed.

?What you have not told people and I guess what you are sorry you have told us is that you are planning to flip flop again.?

Mr. Hayward said the Board had repeatedly stated that the new hospital would only use 30 percent of the Botanical Gardens.

?It?s become almost like a mantra,? he said. ?But look at your own system, my own system. Which 30 percent of my system could I give up and survive?

?You are not just talking about taking a little piece of the Botanical Gardens. You are eating the heart out of it.?

BHB chairman Anthony Richardson, who moderated the meeting, told the audience that a conversation had taken place between the board and the Sustainable Development committee about future use of the current KEMH site.

But he said that the focus now should be on where to put the new hospital, which would last for between 40 and 60 years. ?At that point in time,the generation then will have to make a decision about what will happen.?

About 150 people attended Saturday?s meeting and viewed plans for both the Botanical Gardens scheme and an alternative proposal to build the new hospital on the KEMH site.

Mr. Richardson explained again that the board preferred the same site rebuild option over the Botanical Gardens but said it was ruled out by Government due to cost and time scale.

?We gave Government the information that they needed and they made the decision,? he said. ?The hospitals board is not in the process of trying to defend a decision that has been made.?

Audience member Clyde Symonds, an engineer, said: ?You didn?t give them enough information so they could make a proper decision.?

The meeting heard that a rebuild on the KEMH site ? on land where there is currently a care unit for seniors ? would be difficult because of the impact of building so close to the current hospital and moving the elderly patients elsewhere.

But one woman countered that the hospital had had plenty of new units built in recent years and asked why the new project could not be done in phases to minimise disruption.

Another suggestion was to bring in a hospital ship during the rebuild. Ronald McIntyre, architect with Cannon Designs, said such ships were mainly used in the military and he was not sure if one would be available, adding that he would not want to be a patient on one during a hurricane.

The controversial decision to build the hospital in the Botanical Gardens was announced last month but Premier Alex Scott said it could be reversed if Bermudians were resolutely against it.

Several Opposition MPs were in attendance on Saturday but no Government politicians appeared to be. ?Where are they?? asked one audience member.