Loughlands is our business

August 30, 2006

Dear Sir,

As resident of Paget whose property borders Loughlands, we are very concerned about the impact the development of this property will have on us and our tenants.

We are not opposed to the development of this property outright, as we realise the drastic need for housing, but the scale of the proposed development ? 96 condos, two and three bedroom units, of two- and three-storey buildings has the potential to detrimentally affect our privacy and quality of life, as well as that of our tenants.

Is it too much to ask that we be permitted to view the plans and voice our concerns before any building starts? How close to our boundary will these units be?

This is very much our business! Unfortunately the Minister of the Environment doesn?t think so. She has shown total disregard for us and of 200 other Paget residents who signed a petition in June.

Has a study been carried out to assess the impact that 96 more homes and the resulting additional traffic will have on this area of Paget? We have yet to see the traffic from the Frithhome Gardens development, just recently finished ? directly opposite Loughlands!

Imagine what the morning traffic will be like along South Road?

Another issue is schools ? where will these children be attending school? Gilbert Institute and Paget Primary are already oversubscribed.

I hope the buyers of these new condos are figuring the cost of private schools into their budget.

If this government is concerned about sustainable development, shouldn?t these issues be given due consideration?

A mockery of sustainable devlopment

August 29, 2006

Dear Sir,

I have just watched the programme on ZBM TV about Sustainable Development and noted that the protection of arable land and green space was a concern.

When I first heard that the Loughlands property had been purchased by Gilbert Lopes I was delighted, as I knew him to be a good builder. I was glad that Loughlands was going to be restored as a small hotel after sitting empty and forlorn for so long.

I imagined the tennis courts in use again, the lovely lawns green once more and masses of freesias in bloom to be enjoyed by a new wave of visitors from abroad.

That was just a pipe dream because now we are told that there will be a day care centre instead of a hotel and 96 ?affordable homes? built on the grounds. The lawns and the freesias have long gone and in their place is a huge mountain of rubble and a giant machine that spews out sand every weekend as it roars like a freight train from dawn until dusk.

They have not started building yet this has been going on for months.

I am still pleased that Gilbert Lopes is the builder and that the property is going to be developed.

However, I am dismayed that as a next-door neighbour I will have no opportunity to view the plans nor to lodge an objection because of the Special Development Order issued by Government for this project. What really concerns me is that the size and scale of this proposed development makes a complete mockery of the term ?Sustainable Development?.

Bermuda art in Vegas

August 24, 2006

Dear Sir,

Over the Cup Match holiday some friends and I went to Las Vegas and stayed at the Bellagio Hotel. Imagine our surprise and delight to find prints of Treidler?s paintings of Bermuda in the bedrooms!

Go get ?um Pettingill

August 28, 2006

Dear Sir,

Mr. Mark Pettingill did not insult anyone, in my opinion. Mr. Pettingill explained that after he had spoken to people within his constituency, this is what he was told.

There was nothing racist about it. Why doesn?t the PLP Government stop wasting everyone?s time with this nonsense issue and move on to more important items on the agenda? Like trying to find ways to reduce traffic into and out of Hamilton, finding those less fortunate a home to live in and finally to stop wasting our money.

The PLP Government and its followers are constantly trying to berate the UBP Party on every issue that they have a right to talk about. Mr. Pettingill, go get ?um, win those 38 votes back; I know you can do it.

The PLP Government has also made it a point to nail home that Senator Gina Spence Farmer?s latest very kindhearted event, was a political event.

So what! At least she thought of it and followed it through to give people what they could not afford.

Is the PLP Government jealous that they did not think of it earlier then she? Could it be that they have nothing better to do than call talk radio or call to print their silly stories?

They are supposed to be above this, but clearly they are not. Do we really want a Government, who acts like this, to take us through to Independence? Please.

I can understand that the PLP Government wants to win the next election. I do not think that this is the way forward, at all. We must all try to get along and live in our country together.

Seems to me that this Government is trying their best to bring about the very opposite. Remember, we must not measure a man by the colour of his skin, but by the strength of his character. There are some real characters in the PLP Government, that?s for sure.

A slave and not really British

August 31, 2006

Dear Sir,

?Growing up in Bermuda ? Central School Days?

We would assemble in the courtyard daily, with newly washed faces and legs well greased with lard or if our families were ?well off?, with Vaseline. Our faces stared upward in true reverence and awe as one of the older boys pulled the rope which raised the flag, our glorious Union Jack. We were British and proud of it!

In May or June, my memory now fails me, we would all be herded into the Assembly Hall early in the morning to hear the words of two old white ladies, dressed in white ruffled dresses, who extolled the virtues of the British Empire and how we, the children, were so fortunate to be part of the British Empire. They were the IODE ladies ? the Independent Order of the Daughters of the British Empire and our principal praised them profusely.

After their speeches, we would then stand, ramrod tall, with our little chests sticking out, our little hearts bursting with pride as we sang with gusto:

?Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves,

Britons never, never, never will be slaves!?

It was only later that I learned that I was a slave and not really British.

Excerpts from ?Growing up in Bermuda?

MONEYWISE

Southampton