A spokesman for the environmental group Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce said they would consider appealing the Minster’s decision if a Special Development Order was granted for the Southlands development.

Former Director of the Department of Planning, Rudolph Hollis, said he was concerned about final approval being granted in an SDO before certain issues were dealt with.

Ultimately, the developers, Southlands Ltd., hope to turn the 37-acre property in Warwick into a five-star resort with condominiums and living quarters for the staff, while a new tunnel would put part of South Road underground.

If granted an SDO by Minister of Environment, Neletha Butterfield, the whole project is anticipated to be completed by 2010.

So far, she has not published her decision on the fate of Southlands, but earlier this month she took an unprecedented step when she reopened the public comment phase on the property’s SDO request and issued a draft SDO.

BEST Chairman Stuart Hayward told a crowd of more than two hundred people who attended a meeting at West Pembroke Primary School last night that the group has already considered its next move if the SDO is granted.

He said: “We are looking at the legal route. And a judicial review is a possibility. We could apply to the court to look at the Minister’s decision to see if it was correct.

“We have asked a lawyer to look into it.”

Former senior civil servant, Mr. Hollis, addressed the crowd about the Planning Department procedures. He raised concerns about several aspects of the draft order, specifically that final approval would be granted before several issues were hammered out.

He said that from his understanding the draft stated that final approval would be granted before issues such as waste management, staff housing, energy supply, landscape and an environmental impact study were fully explored.

He said: “I am concerned because this is not approval in principle, which means go back and sort some of these issues out before final approval is granted. When final approval on an SDO is granted it becomes a legal document and we have made a deal with the developers.

What happens if the study comes back and says it is not good for the environment? Approval will already have been granted by then.”

David Wingate, former Government Conservation Officer said he was concerned about losing open space in Bermuda, of which there was already very little, and pointed out the impact on Bermuda’s endemic bird population.

He too asked why approval was being granted before many issues were addressed: “It’s putting the cart before the horse.

He also said it did not make much sense to cut up one of the last large segments of open land when there were a handful of vacant hotel sites that could be redeveloped.

The crowd burst into spirited applause when he said: “I would like to think we could purchase back Southlands as the public of Bermuda and the Government could then ask the developers to reinvest in other abandoned hotels.”

Two Bermuda High School students, Caitlin O’Doherty and Jessica Rego, also took to the stage and said the issue was one that struck a cord in the youth of Bermuda.

Jessica pointed out that over 500 students have joined her group protesting the development on a popular web community Facebook. She read a posting that one student left on the page: “I think the Government of Bermuda should listen to the youth of Bermuda as we are going to be the ones who have to put up with the hotel in the future.”

Caitlin asked: “What is the point of sustainable development if no one enforces it on the big companies?”

The Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce will present Minister Butterfield with its petition objecting to the SDO today at the Cabinet Office at 3 p.m.

Mr. Hayward, said: “These signatures have been collected in response to the Minister’s request for public input on this important issue. We see our role in this as providing a vehicle for members of the public to make their opinions known.”