A flurry of proposed hotel development and expansion is threatening the Island?s sustainable future, according to Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons who spent the New Year period reviewing projects put forward in the past few weeks.

Two landmark hotels on South Shore and a Ritz Carlton business hotel for Hamilton are the three totally new schemes proposed in the past few months.

Elsewhere, there has been a number of requests to expand the scope of existing hotels, such as Coco Reef in Paget and the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

And increasingly Government is being asked to issue special development orders (SDOs) to short-cut normal planning procedure for hotel developers.

According to Mr. Simons this threatens to ?Bury Bermuda?s efforts to pursuit a sustainable future under an avalanche of hotel developments and disregard for regulations designed to protect the public interest.? He is concerned all the activity is being generated to give a positive image in the run-up to an election but at the cost of tackling the need the preserve open space, ease traffic congestion and reduce the need for foreign workers.

?The United Bermuda Party supports new hotel development and initiatives to improve or redevelop existing hotel properties; and we recognise the need to offer concessions to help ongoing operations, attract new operators and to be competitive as a tourism destination. But we also believe the time has come to stop any further loss of large open spaces,? said Mr. Simons. He suggests Government consider buying the 37-acre Southlands property to create public parkland.

?If the Southlands development goes ahead, along with Atlantic Development?s plans for the nearby former Golden Hind property, large woodland spaces in Warwick Parish will become a thing of the past,? he warned.

?The UBP believes the National Sustainable Development Initiative offered us the right track to move forward as a country. But right now the initiative appears stillborn.?

New hotel developments would require hundreds of extra foreign workers, more vehicles on the Island?s roads and put further pressure on housing needs, said the UBP MP. ?We believe Government must raise its gaze above short-term political ends to consider what is best for the Island in the long-term. Careful planning is critical. The current rush to convey a sense of turnaround in the tourism industry should not be the starting point for decisions that will impact the Island for generations to come,? said Mr. Simons.

He asked where was the new Bermuda Development Plan, now five years overdue, with ?the 1992 plan is woefully outdated,? he said.

He added: ?Our second concern is that Government itself is damaging the integrity of the planning process through its increasing use of SDOs to bypass public opinion on development matters. ?The practice amounts to an abuse of the system and a disregard for the public. This disregard appears to be extending to the Sustainable Development Roundtable, which was set up to act as an independent community-oriented watchdog on sustainable development issues.

?In its place Government is reportedly moving toward the formation of a more controllable Government board for sustainable development, ending the independence and objectivity promised by the Roundtable.?

And he said Bermuda needs transparency and discipline in planning decisions, particularly for large-scale developments that have ?great potential to alter and damage the landscape and add to the overall congestion of the Island.?

Mr. Simons said: ?Hotel developments should be required to follow the normal planning process, whereby the public interest can be taken into account.?