statement yesterday in response to a hard-hitting speech by Chairman of the National Trust's Environmental Board.

In a speech to the Hamilton Lions on Wednesday Mr. Timothy Marshall claimed Mr. Smith had no experience of planning.

And he warned there was a danger of the appearance of political bias when ministers overrode Development Application Board decisions on appeal.

Yesterday Mr. Smith said appeal regulations were currently under review and would be revised where necessary by the Department of Planning in consultation with professionals in the private sector.

Bermuda's appeal system was "more democratic than most'', Mr. Smith claimed.

Unlike other jurisdictions, objectors could appeal applications approved by the Development Applications Board.

Elsewhere, he said, appeals were limited to cases which had been denied planning permission.

He pointed to a case where the Bermuda National Trust itself had benefited from a decision by the Minister of the Environment which upheld approval for a development scheme at the Trust's headquarters at Waterville in spite of an appeal by an objector.

"Planning is not a precise science,'' Mr. Smith said. "There are no right answers and wrong answers. Each case tends to be a matter of opinion, judgment and taste.'' Referring to four cases cited by Mr. Marshall as examples where Environment and Acting Environment ministers appeared to have been politically influenced, Mr. Smith claimed each one had undergone "rigorous technical assessment'' by Planning officers. All four were submitted to the DAB with a recommendation for approval. In three cases, the DAB opposed recommendations by the officers.