Developer Gilbert Lopes was given a Special Development Order (SDO) to build 96 "affordable" condos on the site of the old Loughlands Guest House ? without any planning application being filed.

According to former Planning Department head Erwin Adderley, hired as a consultant by the concerned residents, the complete absence of publicly available plans is unprecedented.

And Paget East Opposition MP Grant Gibbons has accused the Government of "ramming the development through without any public consultation".

A statement from the Environment Ministry last night said affordable housing was considered a matter of national importance and that is why the SDO was granted, but there was no answer to our question about the absence of a planning application for public perusal.

The residents say the Government's ignorance of their concerns makes a mockery of Premier Alex Scott's stated desire to involve the public in discussions on sustainable development.

Works & Engineering and Housing Minister David Burch announced in March this year that his Ministry had struck a deal to buy the condos from Mr. Lopes on completion of the work, with the aim of selling them for between $450,000 and $500,000 each to first-time buyers. The 68 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom units will encircle the old guest house, which is a listed building and will be used as a day care centre.

The SDO involved the land being "rezoned" from tourism to residential housing use.

In May, area residents wrote to Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield to express their concerns about the project. Attached was a petition signed by 214 people.

Following an initial receipt in July, they received a more detailed reply from Environment Permanent Secretary Wayne Carey last week, which stressed the importance of building affordable housing.

The residents wrote back this week, expressing their concern on how the Environment Ministry's handling of the Loughlands project "flies in the face of generally accepted planning procedures in Bermuda and the rest of the western world".

The Planning Department's file on the project includes a building permit application, which includes reference to 51 accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are absent.

"We feel totally ignored by this Government," protester Robert W. Zuill said. "Will the Government of Bermuda be doing this with further land development projects, denying the public access to any plans?

"We have expressed our concerns but no information has been forthcoming. This is the first time in history where the citizens of this island have been completely banned from any input. To me, it's Communism."

Mr. Zuill and his wife Rachel Zuill, accompanied by neighbours Joan Darrell, Edward Forbes, Gail Aruda and Mingo Cook, met with the this week and made their feelings clear.

"I'm glad the site is going to be developed and, like all of us, I'm glad it's going to be affordable housing, because there's a need for that ? it's just the density is too great," Ms Aruda said.

"With two- and three-storey condos on our border, it's going to have a big impact on our privacy and our quality of life.

"They don't want us to see any plans because they don't want us to object."

Mrs. Zuill said: "We already have four hotels, the College, a primary school, a grocery store, a restaurant, two churches and two condo developments in this area."

Mr. Zuill added: "There will be at least 300 people living on that property and everybody will have to come and go. The Loughlands entrance is right on a bend in the road and traffic is already terrible down here every day."

Ms Cook expressed concerns that one access to the site could be along Tribe Road 3, coming out onto S Hill ? an inappropriate route for the weight of traffic, she said.

The Planning Department wrote last week to the developer's architects, Entasis, requesting information on the proposed access to the South Road, as well as six other aspects, including drainage sumps and retaining walls. The letter states that if the information is not received within three weeks, the building permit application will be rejected.

In a press conference this week, Senator Burch said he expected the Loughlands project to have its approved building permit by the end of this month.

Dr. Gibbons spoke in support of the residents. "This is not an issue about affordable housing ? everyone agrees we need it," he said. "But we are justifiably alarmed about a Government that issues an SDO without any planning documents in order to bypass the normal planning process and ram through developments without any consultation or disclosure.

"With the development at Loughlands, Government has proceeded with an SDO without requiring the developer to file a planning application. This appears to be the first time this has happened since Parliament established planning regulations in the 1974 Act, and it sets a dangerous precedent.

"It means that there is no disclosure: no one ? not the Development Applications Board, not the public, not community organisations, not MPs ? knows exactly what will be built at Loughlands.

"But Minister for Planning Neletha Butterfield and Minister for Housing David Burch do know, and they aren't saying.

"It also means that Government has handed the private developer a blank cheque that can be cashed without public scrutiny."

Dr. Gibbons said the case made a mockery of Premier Scott's promises on a consultative approach to the Sustainable Development plan.

In the foreword to the draft document , the Premier wrote: "The next phase of intensive consultation will be to ensure that all Bermudians have input to the proposals put forward." He goes on to urge the public to participate in an "open and honest dialogue".

Dr. Gibbons said: "When it's convenient, Government supports Sustainable Development, but when it's not, they do as they please. This command-and-obey approach may suit an ex-military man like the Housing Minister, but it's not what modern democracy is about.

"The residents of Paget and the broader community deserve better treatment from this Government."

In the letter sent to Minister Butterfield on behalf of the residents this week, consultant Mr. Adderley, a former UBP MP, said the residents' requests for more detailed information had been ignored.

"We must also ask how the Government can be spending so much time, effort and funding on Sustainable Development when the appropriate assessments of large developments on the island are not being conducted," Mr. Adderley wrote.

He added that he had reviewed all SDOs granted over the past two years and the Loughlands case appeared to have been handled in "an unusual manner".

"Other SDOs do not speak of specific 'rezonings', an action which does not appear to be permissible under the current planning legislation," Mr. Adderley noted.

"Other SDOs refer to a 'planning application' in which the P-number is listed and the relevant plans are listed by sheet number ? clearly all the other SDOs went through the public and planning assessment process, complete with relevant Government agencies providing input."

The letter added that the Government had violated the spirit and intent of planning laws, which were designed to allow for multiple opportunities for public input.

"The approval of this SDO in the manner undertaken demonstrates a total disregard for due process and the principles of natural justice and also establishes a very bad precedent for future SDOs," Mr. Adderley wrote.

The letter ends with a further request for the residents to see detailed plans of the project and for a meeting with Ministry staff.