More than 100 Smiths residents have signed a petition against a proposed condominium-style development at Knapton Hill by a former editor.

Heidi and John Aguiar, of Harrington Hundreds Road, called David L. White?s planning application ?deceptive? in a letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Environment and the Planning Department. The letter was also sent to .

?We have also included a petition of well over one hundred names and signatures of some of the other persons in agreement with our objection.

?If the time to file this appeal was not so short we are sure there would have been many more,? the Aguiars wrote.

They said there were absolutely no other developments of this type in the surrounding area.

?This proposal being completely uncharacteristic on this prominent and highly visible area would indeed have a negative impact on the neighbourhood.?

Although the planning application was already approved by the Development Applications Board (DAB) on February 16, the Aguiars launched an appeal on April 1. The fate of the appeal rests in the hands of Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield. Ms Butterfield will now make the final decision about whether to overrule the DAB?s decision.

The file will remain with the Ministry of the Environment until she makes her decision.

The Aguiars said they were shocked and in disbelief when they discovered Mr. White wanted to build eight dwelling units and a pool at ?Hollowit? right by near the road at the corner of Knapton Hill and Harrington Hundreds Road.

A total of four detached homes, each with two apartments inside, could be built on Mr. White?s property.

Mr. White is understood to have inherited several pieces of property in the Knapton Hill area, but sold off several of them.

And they said many residents they spoke to were afraid to sign the petition because they were Mr. White?s tenants.

?Because we are such a small Island, for every household represented on our petition, many persons did not sign our petition,? they said. ?Either they know the landowner and did not wish to offend or they are tenants in one of his many houses and did not wish repercussions.?

They called the planning application deceptive because the name of the applicant was Andrea Flood, not Mr. White.

Ms Flood is acting as agent for a company called Failte Limited who are hiring the architects and designers behind the development.

The Aguiars said the confusion meant that the legal objection date had passed before they realised Mr. White had made the application.

During this time the DAB had already approved the development.

?To have this condominium-type development right on the roadside is so against the vision we portray of our beautiful Island.

?Every person agreed with us how sad it would be to proceed with demolishing a beautiful cottage and landmark and replace it with so much block and cement. We see our Island losing its open spaces, trees, vegetation and beauty to be replaced with condominiums which we are sure will not be priced for the average income household. Therefore, we hope you will take further action by rejecting this applicant?s proposal for the good of our Island and community.?

The Aguiars were off the Island last night and unavailable for comment. Michael Verster, of Terceira Associates Architecture and Design, declined to comment at the request of his client.

Despite numerous attempts, Mr. White was unable to be contacted either in Bermuda or Toronto by Presstime last night.

Mr. White was the editor of for 22 years from July 1, 1976 to December 15, 1998. He was awarded an OBE in 1993 for services to journalism and the community.