Government planners have been asked to consider a security fence for the Premier’s private residence in Smith’s, according to public records.

The Planning application comes to light as security around the Premier has increased over the past few days on the recommendation of the Bermuda Police. The Ministry of Works and Engineering prepared the submission and requested a fast-tracked Planning process.

A letter written by Charles Daniels of Works and Engineering says: “The fencing is needed to provide an additional measure of security for the Premier.

“We trust that you will assist us in expediting the application as these measures are needed as soon as possible.”

According to the most recent Government budget publication it took an average of 15.3 weeks to process Planning applications at the Ministry of the Environment last fiscal year.

The security fence application was marked as received at the Department of Planning on April 4, 2007. Typically an application of this kind would be advertised in the Government notices section of the Bermuda Sun on a Friday. The advertisement did not run on April 6 or April 13 but did appear in yesterday’s section of Government notices.

Once advertised any member of the public typically has two weeks to offer input.

The Planning application requests approval to install a three-foot, six-inch metal fence atop an existing wall already surrounding the Premier’s residence. The current concrete wall is four feet, ten inches high.

The news emerged after confirmation from Dr. Brown that he now has a plain-clothes Police escort when out in public due to two recent security scares.

He agreed to the offer on Tuesday after news that a man who accosted him while allegedly carrying a concealed blade on Monday had a past conviction for causing bodily harm.

This came after an incident at Cabinet in January when Police had to deal with a drunk demanding to see him. A spokesperson for Dr. Brown declined to comment on the security fence application.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Safety David Burch confirmed yesterday that he will not answer a question from this newspaper about how much the new bodyguard for Dr. Brown will cost the public.

The Minister “does not comment on any aspect of the security arrangements for the Premier of Bermuda,” said a spokesperson.

Security fence sought