impending row over development at the St. George's Club could be avoided if Bermuda would only come to a simple decision. As long as there is space available in any developed section of the community, then there should be no new development.

We have to become serious about preserving Bermuda and that means no desecration by unnecessary development. We should first use what we have and then we should redevelop where necessary before we "break new ground''.

As examples, there is no real need for the non-Bermudian-owned Castle Harbour development because there are still facilities available for non-Bermudians and a strong case can be made for preserving the Castle Harbour woodlands for the enjoyment of all Bermudians. There is also a good possibility that the US Naval Annex will be turned into a condominium-town house-golf course development, basically for non-Bermudians.

The St. George's Club certainly makes a contribution to the economy of St.

George's and that is valuable. But the financial history of the timeshare is not good and there are still blocks of time for sale in the old units. Then too, the bases have been returned and it would be foolish to make major decisions for the East End until we know what is going to happen at Kindley Field. Club Med is still closed and if there is to be more East End visitor development, logically it should be at Club Med or on the Club Med site.

We have to remember in Bermuda that our visitor facilities are not now fully utilised. If hotels were full and we needed to expand then the picture could be very different. But the tourist beds are not full and tourism is in decline. We need better facilities than we have but that does not mean that we need new facilities in untouched areas. We need a new hotel but we have the already abused Ritz Carlton site in Warwick for that. There are any number of other sites which are now used for tourism which could be redeveloped before we decrease Bermuda's attractiveness to visitors and defeat ourselves by destroying green areas.

If we keep building, we create a very real danger. We are an expensive resort and we could wind up littered with abandoned facilities. We have two abandoned hotels right now. New facilities take business from older places, especially badly maintained older places. Have you looked at the state of Pitt's Bay lately? Do we need delapidated closed hotels in beautiful Bermuda? What holds true for hotels is also true for other types of development.

Look at housing. There is surplus housing in Bermuda today and that should be used first before we keep building. Large parts of Hamilton, particularly to the north of the City, should be redeveloped rather than continuing the sprawl to the west, outside the City limits. Major "city type'' building should be confined to the city. Now parts of the City are neglected in favour of a Pitt's Bay sprawl.

We have to look after Bermuda by thinking "renewal''. We should stop thinking that new means building on a virgin site.