St. George's Golf Course will be managed by the developer of the Park Hyatt hotel.

Government has confirmed the new course will be taken out of state hands and run by Addax Holdings Ltd. for Bazarian International. A spokesman said: "The developer of the property will manage the golf course in accordance with the statute."

The Royal Gazette reported last week that the Park Hyatt (St. George's) Resort Act 2008 will remove the course from the Golf Courses (Consolidation) Act 1998 - under which a single Board of Trustees manages the publicly-owned courses at St. George's, Port Royal and Ocean View.

The Park Hyatt (St. George's) Resort Act 2008 – currently tabled in Parliament – does however, say the developer must "ensure that the golf course remains accessible to the public during such times and on such reasonable terms and conditions as shall be approved by the Minister (Works and Engineering)".

Former St. George's mayor E. Michael Jones has also said the Nick Faldo-designed course will remain public "150 percent".

The Bill also includes an islet off Tobacco Bay Park classed as National Park under the re-designed course.

The Government spokesman said yesterday: "In the interests of providing the most aesthetically-pleasing venue for residents and visitors, the Ministry has undertaken to include a small inlet in the development. Such an addition will not only enhance the golf course's attractiveness, but it will provide increased yardage required to achieve championship status."

Neither Coot Pond or Tobacco Bay however will be included in the development. The spokesman said: "Neither will be encroached upon."

Last night however, Opposition Leader Kim Swan said the closure of the public 'daily fee' golf course was "another step in Dr. (Ewart) Brown's wholesale outsourcing of Bermuda".

Mr. Swan accused Government of "focusing on the dollar at the expense of Bermudians' birthright and our dwindling public spaces".

"As the Brown Government moves to hand over another 80 acres of public golf course land to a private development entity, we have to ask why we're going backwards when we should be looking to expand the amount of open space that is available to Bermudians – not sell it off to the highest bidder.

"Dr. Brown's lease of the St. George's Golf Course to a private developer will tie up public lands for more than five/ten generations of Bermudians – a quarter of a millennium.

"We've been told that Bermudians will have access to what has been a public course – but as usual there are no details available to the public.

"We need answers before the land is outsourced and we have no recourse: who will have access to the golf course first? How many tee-off times will be set aside for Bermudians to play? How much is it projected to cost a local to play a round when a private developer is setting the rates? What are the details of this access and when does Government anticipate the course re-opened?"

Mr. Swan said: "It is ironic that a Premier who has desperately tried to attract Tiger Woods to Bermuda is systematically dismantling the rich spirit of public 'daily fee' golf that Tiger relied on in the early stages of his own ascendancy to the top. It is the all-embracing spirit and inclusiveness that public 'daily fee' golf has provided that is today being threatened."

The Park Hyatt (St. George's) Resort Act 2008 also sets out the concessions and terms of lease for the resort, placing ownership of land south of St. Catherine's Point in the hands of Government. Developer Addax Holdings Ltd., for Bazarian International, will be granted a 131-year hotel lease.

An annex to the Bill also asks the House of Assembly and Senate to approve a 120-year lease for the 11.77 acres of St. George's Club to 'St. G Club Ltd', for an annual rent of $200,000.

Once the Act becomes law and is published in the Official Gazette, those claiming to have an "interest" in the resort's land have just 21 days to submit bids for compensation.

They then have a further 42 days to thrash out a monetary value with the Minister of Works and Engineering, with the matter referred to arbitration if an agreement is not reached. The applicant can also contest Government's acquisition of the land and the level of compensation in the Supreme Court.

The Government spokesman said yesterday: "While Government is unable to determine the ownership of some of the parcels of the land intended to be leased, it does not anticipate any claims.

"However, out of an abundance of caution and in keeping with the Bermuda Constitution, every opportunity must be provided to ensure that no citizen is deprived of any property rights without compensation."

The $294 million resort will be managed by Park Hyatt. It will include 180 condominiums, to be sold in fractions as designated tourism units (fractional ownership).

The Government spokesman said: "When the owner is not in the unit, the unit will be voluntarily rented out through the hotel to transient visitors. The fractional units will be subject to all of the services and amenities that are afforded to a regular hotel room, such as housekeeping, bellman, etc."

The development will also include staff housing, to be situated on land off Redboat Lane North.