development proposal for Catchment Hill.

And it stated that a site visit was in order.

This came after the Planning Department recommended that the proposal to build luxury condominiums on the land be refused due to the fact that it felt Bermuda Properties Ltd, the owner of the Tuckers Town site, did not wish to build in the foreseeable future but wanted to establish development rights on the land.

And the National Trust environmental committee chairman Mr. Tim Marshall said he agreed with the Planning Department's recommendation to reject the application because "it would be premature for the development to proceed in light of Government's promise to the Bermuda people that the zoning of Catchment Hill would be looked over again.'' Planning Director Mr. Brian Rowlinson added that a review of Catchment Hill's zoning, that was ordered by Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons last October, was still under way.

Catchment Hill is a 38-acre site near Harrington Sound Post Office, of which 14 acres is a concrete water catchment surrounded by hillside and a quarry. It has become a battleground for environmentalists -- who want it to remain an open space as it is one of Bermuda's last forests -- and developers.