Three public meetings on the draft Sustainable Development report have now taken place, and judging by the number of people attending the meetings and watching the later broadcasts on television, there is a good deal of interest in the issue.

This is not entirely surprising, and give that sustainable development can more or less encompass any aspect of life in Bermuda, the roundtable that is overseeing the discussions have the problem not so much of needing more information, but of trying to separate the wheat from the chaff of what has been heard.

Thus the first meeting dealt with the economy and honed in especially on the housing shortage and the problem Bermudians face getting quality jobs and a chance to enjoy the good life.

The second meeting dealt with governance, with a particular focus on the civil service and the degree to which it needs to be held accountable.

The third meeting, held on Tuesday, dealt directly with the environment, and thus focused on eco-friendly approaches to life.

That's a very wide ambit, with more to come.

The challenge comes in how to balance these disparate needs and desires. One person's piece of parkland is another person's affordable housing development. One fisherman's desire to free up parts of the fishing stock will be opposed by a nature lover's wish to see more fish, not fewer.

None of this is new. "Bermuda's Delicate Balance", first published by the National Trust in the 1980s, dealt with many of these issues. It warned then that Bermuda was close to its tipping point; by its measure, we are now long past it, although few people wish to admit it.

Successive government have grappled with these problems with different degrees of success. It was interesting to note that in the most recent theme, it was stated that Government could not afford to buy open space, but the report encouraged more land purchases along the lines of Buy Back Bermuda.

But the question of what is affordable is very much in the of the beholder. United Bermuda Party governments bought open land from Blue Hole in Hamilton Parish to Hog Bay Level in Sandys for use as parks. It is not a question of affordability, but of priorities, and it is on such questions that elections are decided.

So we face the same questions, and to date neither the report ? despite the masses of very good research and ideas which it contains ? nor the forums have come up with real answers.

Those questions are: Can we afford to have a growing economy and at the same preserve the Island's ecological balance. Conversely, in the event that brakes are put on growth, will Bermuda be able to provide the quality of life that many people demand.

It is easy to blame the financial challenges and stresses that any face on the greed of others ? landlords, business owners, expatriates and so forth ? but the Island must beware of the unintended consequences that may follow radical change.

It is also worth noting the comments of XL Capital chief executive officer Brian O'Hara, who noted on Tuesday that around three quarters of his staff are either Bermudian or spouses of Bermudians. Without the XLs of this world, where would those Bermudians be, not to mention the hundreds of Bermudian-owned and operated businesses that depend on international companies.

In many ways, Bermudians have to learn to live smarter. We have to make better choices about education and training, better choices about we use our disposable income and better choices about how we treat our environment and each other. Then we may be able to sustain this community.