Development Applications Board again.

Wilkinson Estate Ltd. had applied to use Wonderland Cave on Wilkinson Avenue for guided public tours which required the creation of a new pathway to the cave entrance and a management plan for the surrounding area zoned Woodland Reserve.

But the DAB refused the application again after a site visit on the grounds "that the proposal will have a detrimental impact on an underlying cave''.

It advised Wilkinson Estate to include information in future applications that showed: An electrical lighting system would be used which would not adversely impact the cave walls; That the entrance and exit would have appropriate signage and meet the health and safety requirements of the Building Code; The maximum number of people which would be included on each tour as determined by the Health and Safety Officer at the Bermuda Fire Service; and That there would be no cutting or excavation involved in the creation of the pathway and that the existing old stone road would be retained.

Wilkinson Estate Ltd. wants to open the cave, next to the Crystal Caves site, by April next year. The plan has drawn objections from the National Trust.

The group ran into trouble earlier this year when it began fitting a lighting system and cleared protected woodland before permission had been given.