People Urged To Attend Meeting About Gardens
Action group, Take Back Our Park, is urging its supporters to attend a public meeting called by Government over plans to develop the old maintenance yard at the Botanical Gardens.
Work was stopped earlier this year when a temporary injunction was granted forbidding Government to proceed with work at the site.
But a public notice was published this week and a note on the Government website said: “The public is invited to an information and public consultation session on the proposed redevelopment of the Department of Parks Maintenance Yard located at the Botanical Gardens.
“The presentation will be held from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm on Thursday, 10 November, at the Berkeley Institute Cafetorium.”
A spokesperson for TBOP said: “We would urge as many people as possible to attend this event and voice their disapproval as well as expressing concern at the short notice that was given about this meeting.”
Government wanted to redevelop the old maintenance yard as the headquarters for the Department of Parks.
But TBOP said other sites were more suitable for a facility which would be a mustering post for up to 120 Parks staff, as well as a parking lot for all the Department’s heavy vehicles, trucks, equipment and trailers.
TBOP said plans for a two-story water tower, a 30-foot high ‘L’ shaped prefabricated metal warehouse and one 100-foot long and 18-feet high building were inappropriate.
It feared the Gardens, South Road and surrounding areas would also be severely impacted by numerous cars and heavy trucks entering and leaving the site.
The spokesperson added: “When the injunction was granted the Chief Justice took into account a petition against the plans which was signed by about five percent of Bermuda’s population.
“We fully appreciate the need for a new headquarters for the Parks staff who have had to put up with inferior accommodation for a long time, but we feel that the site of the old maintenance yard is not suitable.
“It is a national park and as such should be protected. The site should be cleared and returned to parkland.”
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Only one day advance notification – shame on our Government for calling this a Community Consultation.
Shame on our Government that it scheduled for the evening before the day we annually honour our veterans.
Please stop this shell game.
The Community deserves sincere advance notification, an agenda and an engagement outline. It would help to have a definition of what a properly constituted Community Consultation is – so we know when it is not.
This example would fall into that category of “is not” a Community Consultation.
Where are the parks dept headquarters currently?
In the Botanical Gardens where they have been historically. Although some people would like to move the Parks Staff from their neighbourhood to Marsh Folley and are using this long overdue repair project for their own agenda.
So someone honestly thought that putting an industrial maintenance yard in the Botanical Gardens was a good idea? You honestly can’t fix stupid.
This “good idea” originated from the PLP while still in power.
Don’t forget that little detail. The PLP will try to hang it on the OBA.
An maintenance yard has existed there for decades. This is a rebuild/upgrade.
That site was an industrial mantainance yard before you were born! One recent home owner ajacent to the property causing all the fuss!
Doesn’t this planned monstrosity already have planning approval. The sites already been dug up and they’ve installed the water tower so wht are they doing this public consultation after the fact. Seems a bit late for to me. Why are they even bothering at this point
What about that petition that the griup trying to protect the park did? What happened to that. There the public consultation right there
This has bad idea written all over it. Who was the genius that came up with this plan anyway?
Would it not make much more sense to use the parcel of land at the Eastern end of the property. There is a area at the end of the bark behind the Oleander fence where they currently dump trees and abandoned machinery?
There is already an entrance in the general area. It would allow for Parks vehicles to move in and out easily. This current idea just does not make any sense …especially since there are other options available.
The main reason being that the land East of the slathouse is part of Camden and not the botanical gardens – parks merely maintains it.
Soooo W&E thinks that the public have forgotten it do they? Maybe they have been told to cut their budget for next year so stirring ill will against the OBA is a good idea.
just build it, wasnt there one there before?
LOLOL like a new maintenance yard can make parks better Lord help us why you think the Former Minister Got rid of Parks and the PS under him and kept only W&E he then does not have to deal with the foolishness in an area he was elected. They need to just privatize it all together.
When are they going to rebuild the toilets that they pulled down which were adjacent to the main car park for the Botanical Gardens?