Dear Sir,

The following letter is submitted on behalf of residents in Warwick East, who are just looking for answers.

Last month, residents in Warwick East were very surprised to see a huge hill of excavation spoils being stockpiled on a site on the south shore coastal area immediately west of Astwood Walk, behind the gas station. It was a surprising sight for two reasons:

• The land is zoned tourism and so, ordinarily, would not be used for stockpiling such materials

• It is right on the coast, fully exposed to the wind

The dumping continued for several weeks with four to six trucks coming and going six days a week continuously from early morning until sundown. The size of the stockpile is estimated to be the length of a football field and appears, from the photographs, to be about 12 to 15ft high.

The residents contacted the Department of Planning directly before reaching out to BEST. Calls and e-mails to the planning department have gone unanswered, and when high winds were being forecast, BEST also contacted the department. Not having received an adequate response, it eventually submitted a formal complaint.

A “Stop Work” notice was posted at the site and the gates to the area locked, although, with a code, people are still coming and going from the site. Further stockpiling has stopped but also now on the site are shipping containers, swimming pools and other heavy construction equipment — all without confirmation that the proper approvals had been applied for or granted.

If there are policies that prohibit this activity, why are they not being adhered to and enforced, and if there are not policies that prohibit this activity, why are legitimate inquiries being ignored?

As citizens and taxpayers, we are entitled to answers.

KIM SMITH

Executive director of BEST