The Bermuda Plan 2008 paves the way for clusters of multi-storey commercial and residential buildings outside the city, according to environmental campaigners BEST.

Chairman Stuart Hayward yesterday warned of a string of concerns related to the document — which maps out development policies for Bermuda — due to be debated by Senators today.

Calling for the Upper House to block the plan, Mr. Hayward said it:

• encourages pockets of concentrated commerce — leading to potential traffic congestion across the Island;

• ignores fears over how Bermuda can cope with a growing population — instead trying to satisfy the desire for urbanisation;

• allows for groups of high-rise buildings in a number of areas outside Hamilton;

• continues to allow the Environment Minister to override the intentions of the plan by issuing Special Development Orders.

The Bermuda Plan, which received 451 objections, was considered by the House of Assembly two weeks ago, despite the United Bermuda Party's complaints about the pace it was raced through.

Government is expected to push for Senate rules to be suspended today so that Senators can consider it ahead of schedule, because it must be approved by Parliament before the end of June.

Mr. Hayward repeated concerns that the public has not had enough time to digest and analyse huge amounts of information relating to the plan.

"It is indeed extraordinary that the development plan for the entire Island was rushed through the House and is now being rushed through the Senate," he said.

"We all know the adage that haste makes waste and, in all the rush, the Bermuda Plan is getting shortchanged in content as well as process," he said.

Sources last night said the Senate is very unlikely to refuse to consider it today, but Mr. Hayward said: "The Senate could exercise its constitutional role and reject the last-minute rush being forced on them and at very least insist on being given enough time to digest the dense documents and plans comprising the Bermuda Plan.

"The Senate could take an enlightened step further and insist that the plan and its policy changes go through a comprehensive public consultation process so that the public can be a true partner in steering the future development of our Island.

"We are watching the most precious resource, our jewel of an Island, being converted from rural and lush to urban and dominated by concrete and asphalt. We believe that the public should be involved and have a say in the way the Island is developed.

"But beyond a few presentations, the public has little knowledge or understanding of the major changes that will occur to Bermuda's landscape as a result of this plan."

Of Bermuda's ability to accommodate residents, he said: "Each new person born or imported will need housing, workspace, education, transportation, food, clothing, entertainment, electricity, water — most of which is not addressed by the plan.

"It is an accommodation plan, that attempts to satisfy the increasing urbanisation demands of developers and Government without a meaningful strategic component that has the thorough understanding and buy-in of the people who have to live here."

Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney says the plan was put together after "the widest possible consultation", telling the House two weeks ago: "There was no way at all that the integrity of the process was compromised."

Mr. Blakeney described the blueprint as an attempt to "manage Bermuda's natural and built environment resources and development effectively and sustainably in a way that best provides for the environmental, economic and social needs of the community".

It is the first new plan since 1992 and has taken years to prepare; a four-month public consultation was held on the document and a tribunal was convened last year to hear objections to the draft version.

But Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons has suggested Government could face court action because the Department of Planning made changes to the draft plan after it was tabled in the House.

UBP Senator Suzann Roberts-Holshouser said last night: "We are very pleased that we finally have a new plan; it's been a long time in the making.

"There's some positive things and some concerns we have to look at. It's a bit sad that the procedure of process was not handled to the benefit of the people of Bermuda. It's the Bermuda Plan."

Kathy Michelmore, Deputy Leader of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, said: "What the Bermuda Democratic Alliance would like to address is the fact that in conjunction with a regularly updated Bermuda Plan, it is our Planning Act which requires a dramatic overhaul.

"There are essential issues which need to be reassessed. Suggestions include: a better process for transparency and openness in advertising of development applications, especially where these relate to public land; addressing the over-use of Special Development Orders which bypass formal planning approval; reviewing the process of appeals against Department of Planning decisions which should be made to an independent body as opposed to the Minister; streamlining the planning application process to make it more user-friendly and to reduce waste of time and resources; review of the advisory boards to the Department of Planning to include an environmental panel; a formal policy to increase access to public land for future generations of Bermudians."

She added: "Sustainable development and protection of our land resource requires a proactive approach. The Bermuda Democratic Alliance would like to see more discussion centred on our Planning Act now, in anticipation of the next review of our Bermuda Plan which is already fast approaching."

Today's Senate sitting will also see the tabling of the Bails and Firearms Acts — passed through the House of Assembly in a hurry two weeks ago as anti violence measures but put on hold after Public Safety Minister David Burch decided Senate didn't need to sit last week.

Sen. Roberts-Holshouser said last night: "It's very disappointing that we didn't have the opportunity to go into the Senate last week."