Despite hearing 48 objections over a two-month period, a tribunal charged with reviewing the City of Hamilton draft plan has proposed no substantive changes to the 2001 document.

The plan, geared to revitalise Hamilton by encouraging residential development and pedestrianising sections of the City, was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday.

"In my opinion, the small number of objections received is indicative of the quality of, and wide support for, the plan's policies and proposals," Environment Minister Dennis Lister said in his report on the tribunal.

Of the objections logged, 17 were resolved without a hearing, the report said, while 31 were presented before the group comprised of Dr. Kent Simmons, Zoleta Oliver and Craig Tucker.

Many of the objectors took issue with height restrictions on building based on the height of the Cathedral, saying were unfairly restrictive to businesses within the viewing corridor, hampering the ability to expand.

However, the tribunal upheld the restrictions.

"The tribunal concluded that the Draft Plan's maximum storey heights were set to provide every site in the City with similar or greater building height potential than that permitted in the 1984 plan and that the draft plan's residential bonus policy was exactly that, a bonus," the report states, referring to the new policy which will allow and extra storey provided 50 percent of the floorspace is earmarked for apartments.

Architect Colin Campbell of OBM Limited - who presented before the tribunal on behalf of a group of 20 businesses including Bank of Bermuda, Esso, CableVision, the Bermuda Industrial Union, Gosling Brothers and Smith's - said last night the proposed changes to the plan were a bit like "moving the chairs around on the Titanic".

"The primary problem is that it is economically unfeasible to build in the City of Hamilton because of the current height restrictions," he said.

Mr. Campbell said that that was the reason all the major development that has taken place in recent years has been located outside City limits."

But he added the plan would call on the design professionals to flex their imaginations.

"The urbanisation required to invigorate Hamilton is multifaceted and has to be started with fresh ideas and innovation from the design professionals," he said.