The Department of Planning has accused construction firm BCM McAlpine of “abusing” its efforts to facilitate emergency foreshore work at an Opposition MP’s home.But company president Alan Burland refuted the claim and questioned why planners didn’t flag up concerns at an on-site meeting at Grant Gibbons’s property on January 21 or in an e-mail sent a month before by a senior official.The row over the hurricane repair work at Beach Cove, South Road, Hamilton Parish, flared up after Planning issued a stop work order to BCM McAlpine on January 26.Mr Burland said he was “surprised and annoyed” to get the directive as he’d been given verbal and e-mail approval to start the work to repair cliff erosion and damage to a terrace.The Royal Gazette has since seen four e-mails exchanged between BCM McAlpine and a senior planning official about Beach Cove.The first was sent on September 23, 2010, by Mr Burland, when he explained emergency work was needed at a client’s property following Hurricane Igor and asked if there was an expedited planning approval process.The reply sent the next day said in light of the damage caused by the hurricane, the Department of Planning (DoP) was treating such emergency work as “permitted developments”. “Please proceed with the repairs,” advised the officer.The last two e-mails were exchanged on December 20. Mr Burland explained the work had been delayed due to weather and other factors, hence why no planning application had been submitted.The official assured him that wasn’t a problem. “The information provided is more than sufficient,” the civil servant wrote. “Perhaps we could discuss further in the New Year when you are closer to completion. Details can be finalised then.”The DoP confirmed on Friday it “agreed to allow remedial emergency work to repair hurricane damage to Beach Cove”.A spokeswoman said: “It was made clear from the outset that the agreement to allow work to proceed was conditional and related only to repairs of damage caused by the hurricane. It was agreed that repair and stabilisation work could proceed because of the severity of the problem but that the necessary planning and building approvals should be sought.”She said the Department expected the formal application for permission to be submitted quickly so details could be approved before completion of the project.“Following a recent site visit, it became apparent that work had proceeded to an advanced stage without any applications being submitted and BCM McAlpine was directed to halt any further works until the necessary applications were submitted and permissions granted accordingly.“It is now more than four months since the initial enquiries were made and the Department’s position made known. This period should have been more than adequate to submit the necessary planning applications. It is regrettable that the Department’s approach to facilitating what were considered as emergency works was abused in this manner.”Mr Burland said: “Respectfully, we believed that we had complied with DoP requirements.”He said when the work was delayed the company was unable to submit the required information hence why he advised Planning on December 20 and was told there was no problem.“On January 21, we met with the DoP on site,” he added. “There was no mention of any non-compliant work.“Surely this cannot be seen as ‘abusing’ the system we believed that we were taking the necessary steps to bring the project to completion with the cooperation and understanding of the DoP. We were very much trying to help.”He said a planning application had now been filed. Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons declined to comment.