Environmental charities have raised questions about a proposed seniors housing development in Warwick.

A recent planning application, submitted by Senior Solutions Ltd, proposed the creation of a 27-unit seniors community on Leith Hill Lane, east of Camp Hill between the Railway Trail and Middle Road.

The developer said that the project would help to support the island’s growing seniors population, but charities expressed concerns about the use of agricultural and woodland reserves on the property.

The Bermuda National Trust said in a letter of objection that while the charity recognised the need for seniors housing, such projects should not be achieved at the expense of protected conservation areas.

The BNT said: “Much of the application site is designated open-space reserve, with significant areas also zoned agricultural reserve and woodland reserve.

“A substantial portion of the proposed development footprint extends into these protected areas.

“The application has not adequately demonstrated why development of this scale cannot be accommodated in a manner that better respects these conservation zonings, nor has it been demonstrated why intrusion into protected land is necessary to achieve the stated objectives of the proposal.

“Indeed, there is no evidence before the board that this community benefit cannot be achieved through a design that avoids or substantially reduces impacts on the protected conservation land.”

While the application proposed that other areas of the site could be rezoned as agriculture or woodland reserve, the charity argued that such a proposal should require clear and compelling evidence that the replacement land could provide equivalent or better than that lost.

The BNT added: “No such evidence has been provided. Furthermore, there appears to be no policy mechanism that would allow for the relocation or exchange of open-space reserve land, whose designation reflects the intrinsic environmental and landscape value of that land.

“The practical viability of the retained agricultural reserve also remains unclear.

“While the planning statement refers to residents benefiting from fresh vegetables harvested from the property, no identifiable gardens or cultivated growing areas are shown on the submitted drawings.

“Equally, the plans fail to demonstrate how tractors or other essential agricultural machinery would gain access to the proposed agricultural land.”

The Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce also filed an objection to the plans, noting that about half of the site was open-space reserve, woodland reserve or agricultural reserve.

The objection letter stated that the proposed type of development was not allowed for such reserve space and argued that the value of the proposed new agricultural reserve was questionable.

The charity also asked if a conservation management plan could be included and if measures could be put in place to prevent the senior-living development from being converted into regular condominiums in the future.

Given the nature of the proposal, BEST suggested that it would be better suited as an in-principle application rather than an application for final approval.