More than 80 residents are protesting a Planning appeal for a beach bar at Warwick Long Bay.

Applicant Belcario Thomas and agents Entasis Architecture are appealing the Development Applications Board's rejection of the 'Sandbar' – a 60-seat restaurant and cocktail bar to the west of the Warwick Long Bay car park.

Mr. Thomas wants to create an "ambient, Ibiza-type bar" and says he will follow Government conservation and environmental advice to make it "as environmentally-friendly as possible".

In a letter to Planning, Jon Wilson Allen, director of Entasis Architecture, said: "This proposal seeks not to destroy or harm the environment but to celebrate it."

The 'Sandbar' design consists of a T-shaped split-level wooden decking, with panels anchored into the sand to enable their removal in the event of a hurricane and at the end of the summer season.

Mr. Thomas – the events' organiser behind Unité, plans to screen the decking perimeter with native vegetation and to carry out a daily clean-up of the surrounding area.

The 2,500 sq ft restaurant and beach bar includes a mobile kitchen – operational between May and November, and 'Port-a-loo' toilets on the other side of the car park turnaround.

Planning officers refused permission for the 'Sandbar' as the South Shore Park site is zoned under Open Space and is a National Park Conservation Area. The DAB report said: "Warwick Long Bay is the last of Bermuda's pristine beaches.

'The proposal will have a dominating and detrimental impact on the natural aesthetic of the beach."

The Board concluded the development "takes away open space" and raised questions of health and safety due to the sale of alcohol and the steep incline of the beach and its undertow.

The DAB also said the beach bar was contrary to the Bermuda Plan 1992 Planning Statement "in that it would have a detrimental impact on the environmental, visual and amenity value of the undeveloped land" and coastline.

"The proposal is contrary to the preservation of the natural and scenic quality of the Island," it said.

The development was also contrary to the Bermuda National Parks Act 1986 and did "not adequately address the impacts of parking and traffic".

There were 107 letters of objection to the 'Sandbar'. Among residents' concerns were noise, litter and potential parking overflow, while some also described the project as an environmental "travesty".

The Bermuda National Trust also opposed the Planning application, saying not enough information had been given regarding the potential visual impact.

In Mr. Thomas's appeal, it states: "Today's residents and visitors expect more. Restaurants in parks and bars on beaches are attractions we can expect to find and enjoy in any tourist destination."

But in a September 16 letter to the Planning Inspectorate, local residents argue the proposed wooden deck and tent canopy will have "a high visual impact from the beach, South Road, and the scenic lay-by opposite Jobson's Cove".

"As stated in our original objection, the development's placement would significantly alter the scenic and unspoiled vista of Warwick Long Bay," the letter states.

"As local residents, we observe on a daily basis the number of tourists who stop in the lay-by to behold the unspoilt beauty of our Island. For many visitors the unspoilt vista is synonymous with the Bermuda experience.

"This development is strenuously resisted by local residents, and may actually serve to deter tourists who seek Bermuda for the beauty and tranquillity our beaches afford."

The letter – written on behalf of 80 residents, says: "If ever there were a case which merited a public inquiry, such as would be offered to Bermudians by the appointment of an Independent Inspector, it is the case under appeal.

"The application, which after all, relates to publicly-owned land, concerns the public's continuing enjoyment of a National Park, and raises concerns amongst the local residents.

"We respectfully submit that the decision of the Development Applications Board to refuse this application should be upheld, and that this appeal should be dismissed."

Mr. Thomas declined to comment yesterday. The appeal will be considered at a later date by Environment Minister El James.