Applications Board has given the go-ahead for the next round of restorations at The Parsonage.

Maritime Museum director Dr. Edward Harris, who lives in the 168-year-old building at Dockyard, said he was pleased at the news. But renovations could not resume until his dispute with Government over The Parsonage was resolved, he said.

Recently, Government told Dr. Harris to accept an eight-year lease or face eviction.

But Dr. Harris, who since 1982 claims to have put $750,000 worth of work into the historic building, with another $250,000 yet to be done, said "an eight-year lease is not agreable.

"It's unfair from an economic point of view,'' Dr. Harris said. "It would rob me of an investment of in excess of $1 million.'' He said Works and Engineering Minister the Hon. Leonard Gibbons told him last year the dispute over The Parsonage "could not be resolved until Planning permission was obtained for the full scope of the works''.

But Mr. Gibbons said yesterday the DAB approval would have no effect on the dispute.

"He's been offered a resolution to the problem, taking into account the value of the property, the value of the improvements, and the rental value that he's enjoyed over the many years,'' Mr. Gibbons said.

Based on that, Dr. Harris said the Ministry calculated that he was entitled to another eight years occupancy.

Retroactive approval for a second dwelling unit and approval for a new third dwelling unit, verandah, water tank, and landscaping were contained in the minutes of the DAB's July 12 meeting made public yesterday.

"The Parsonage is a wonderful building and I look forward to completing my plans for the structures and the gardens, so as to make it a great visual amenity on the road to Dockyard,'' Dr. Harris said.

"This important building would no longer exist without my dedication and investments. It is in the public interest that I be allowed to complete the task...to ensure its survival and that Government grants me a fair title to the property for putting it back on our heritage map.'' While Dr. Harris has continued to maintain the property on Craddock Road, he said renovations stopped about two and a half years ago. With his future in the house uncertain, "it just wasn't worth putting any more major funds into it''.