development controls are not recognised.

And the Island rates behind only Hong Kong and Singapore in population density, said planning consultant Mr. Martin Lightfoot.

He is also calling for housing requirements to be assessed taking into consideration the closure of the United States bases.

Mr. Lightfoot made the statements during this week's objections tribunal into the 1992 Bermuda Plan's zoning of the 38-acre Catchment Hill as residential.

The former senior planning officer was called in as an expert on behalf of the Mid Ocean Club which is objecting on grounds that any development would destroy the golf course's surroundings.

Principal of Lightfoot Island Planning Services, a consultancy based in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, he specialises in the provision of services to small island communities.

Mr. Lightfoot said: "Bermuda is one of the most densely populated and developed countries in the world today -- some say the third after Hong Kong and Singapore.

"Bermuda needs to decide which way it is going and what its ultimate population is going to be. If it is going to compete with Hong Kong and Singapore as the top two countries for population density then, yes, it should smother the top of Catchment Hill with condominiums.'' Bermuda's 59,500 population in 21 square miles still compares favourably with 5,800,000 in 404 miles of Hong Kong and 2,413,945 in Singapore, but it still rates at some 2,833 people per square mile.

Mr. Lightfoot said: "There is little doubt about the vital importance of a successful and healthy tourism industry to Bermuda's economy, particularly in terms of employment.

"In turn, there is no question that environmental quality is a critical factor on which tourism heavily relies, and the strict preservation and conservation of the few remaining significant open spaces is vital.

"Should news of the proposed needless development of any major open spaces reach the world's travel trade then the valiant efforts of the Ministry of Tourism would be abortive. So too would be the many millions of dollars invested in promoting Bermuda as an idyllic tourist destination.'' The former planning officer stressed that housing needs have changed since 1983 when the last plan was prepared. In fact between 1970 and 1990 Bermuda's population increased by 16 percent while its housing stock grew by 44 percent.

In an attempt to emphasise there was no need for the development of Catchment Hill, Mr. Lightfoot stressed that eight percent of the 1990 housing stock was vacant. That is more than 2,000 houses.

Calculations show that around 1,600 extra homes will be needed by the Year 2000. Mr. Lightfoot said 870 have already been provided.

The 1991 Census showed military personnel occupied some 490 off Base units in mid-1991. These comprised a further 31 percent of the total requirement and would be available for civilians in within 18 months.

Added to that, there are already 2,000 undeveloped lots in Bermuda approved under the new plan.

He said: "Until such time as special studies of the potential role of the City of Hamilton and the military bases in meeting future development needs have been undertaken it would be foolhardy in the extreme to make decisions which would have a lasting effect on Bermuda's environment -- like Catchment Hill.''