An environmental campaigner is hoping Government will use extra caution in assessing plans for a "high-density" new hotel and affordable housing complex in Warwick.

As revealed in The Royal Gazette yesterday, Government is to invest public money in the Grand Atlantic Hotel and Spa, with a condition of the investment being the developer must also build 125 affordable housing units.

Premier Ewart Brown revealed the public-private partnership as he addressed delegates of the 13th Annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference on Tuesday.

Previous plans for the Grand Atlantic Resort and Residences on the site of the former Golden Hind resort were granted a Special Development Order (SDO) in June 2007, but since then there has been little sign of progress on the 13-acre site.

Atlantic Development was the original developer behind the proposed South Shore resort, but it has not yet been confirmed whether it is still involved in the project.

More details on the public-private partnership are expected today with an official Government announcement. Although the Premier said on Tuesday he was to make an announcement yesterday this has been adjourned until today.

Speaking at the official opening of the CHTIC, Dr. Brown said that due to the lack of credit in the current economic climate, Government had agreed to assist the developer with capital from the affordable housing Budget.

"Affordable homes came into the picture because it is part of the Government's commitment to the people of Bermuda," he said.

"We want more of our hard-working people to become homeowners, and this developer was in need of capital which was not currently available on the global markets."

Yesterday Stuart Hayward, chairman of the Bermuda Environmental and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST), said he hoped a new planning application would now be submitted for the scrutiny of the Planning Department.

Mr. Hayward said he hoped that, as with Southlands, if Government was to resort to an SDO then a draft version would first be made available to the public.

"At Southlands there was a draft SDO issued so people concerned stakeholders, could first get an appreciation of what was intended. So it was a much more consultative process," he said. "We would like to see that process continued.

"However, it would seem to me that if the proposal has changed there should be a new application to the Development Applications Board."

Commenting on the proposed 100 room hotel and 125 housing units, Mr. Hayward said: "It does seem to be an enormously high-density use of that area. High density is one thing for hotel guests who may only be there for a week, but it's a completely different thing for people who are going to be living there year-round.

"This is something that needs to be very carefully thought out. It's also on top of a cliff so there is a safety issue, but my concern is more about the level of impact on the environment and infrastructure."

He said: "When you have schemes that are outside of the box you need to be doubly and triply careful about the consequences.

"With many of these schemes the devil is in the details, so we look forward to having more information about this particular scheme before we (BEST) can give any stamp of approval."