The Bermuda National Trust has slammed reports in the Bermuda Sun this week that it took the wrong approach to plans by the Bank of Bermuda/HSBC to build on the former Trimingham Brothers site on Front Street.

On October 19, the bank sought final Planning approval to convert numbers 39, 41 and 43 Front Street into a seven-storey, mixed-use, commercial development with a new pedestrian lane and communal space on Reid Street.

?There has been much discussion about the HSBC proposal for the Trimingham?s site on Front Street and speculation about Bermuda National Trust?s decision not to object to the application,? BNT director Steve Conway told yesterday.

?The Bermuda National Trust participated in the design charrette conducted by architects Cooper & Gardner because, mindful of the scant protection afforded buildings within the City of Hamilton, we believe that this gave the Trust the best chance of having a positive impact on the design process.?

Mr. Conway said neither BNT past-president Wayne Jackson, who was an ex-employee of the Bank, nor present BNT board member and Bank employee Paul Leseur were involved in the design charrette.

?They declared their interest and formed no part of the decision making,? Mr. Conway said.

The director revealed the only Trust members who attended the design charrette were himself and chairman of BNT?s historical building committee Charles Tatem.

And Mr. Conway said it was not unusual for the Trust to consult developers about major developments, such as when Government asked for input on the Ministry of Tourism and Transport?s Cruise Ports Master Plan, which it eventually derided.

?The Trust?s statement regarding this project demonstrates that what we endorsed was an open dialogue between the BNT, the architects and a wide variety of other stakeholders and the design concept that resulted from those meetings,? Mr. Conway said.

Standing by the Trust?s position on the proposed building, he said the plan retained Front Street?s special character, indicating it could have been much worse because Trimingham?s was not protected by Planning laws.

?The Trust is satisfied that the unique character of Front Street is retained in the proposal for the frontage and that it has to accepted that it is inevitable that a multi-storey structure is permitted by the City of Hamilton Plan 2001,? he said. ?The design charrette preserved the iconic western side of the old Trimingham?s store and provided for a Chancery Lane-like walkway through on the western side. The site has also been saved from having a blank, multi-storey side wall facing the Smith?s building.?

Trimingham?s was neither a listed building nor built on a conservation areas, he said, the two main reasons the Trust will object to developments.

?There are certain triggers which prompt action from the Trust; where legally protected listed buildings and or conservation zonings are threatened, and these did not occur in this case,? Mr. Conway said. ?We have to let the Planning process take place and the Government?s Historic Buildings Advisory Committee perform its function.?

BNT does not object to developments simply because they are ugly, he suggested.

?Questions of aesthetics must be decided by the individual and guided by the precepts set out for Front Street in the City of Hamilton Plan 2001,? he said.

And he said the Trust would continue to lobby for the historic listing protection of buildings to be extended into Hamilton because developers needed to recognise that Hamilton?s buildings are protected.

Buildings worthy of being saved needed to be publicly identified, he said.