Dunkley: Best We Can At Morgan’s Point
[Written by Senator Michael Dunkley, Shadow Minister for Tourism]
We are pleased the Southlands-Morgan’s Point land swap has finally happened, if only to preserve Southlands as a national park.
But we want to be very clear up front: We consider the Morgan’s Point situation to be the worst example of public planning we can think of, if we can even use that word planning.
In saying that, we cast no aspersions on the local group now positioned to develop Morgan’s Point’s 250-acres, arguably the last great resort development opportunity in Bermuda.
Indeed we look forward to working with them to see that the best possible project goes forward in ways that rejuvenates tourism and creates jobs for Bermudians over the short and long term.
But let’s consider what has brought us to this point, and why we think government’s handling of the situation sold Bermuda short:
- The land swap deal broke a government-created logjam that began in the run-up to the 2007 election when the Premier, wanting to pump up his ‘can-do’ image, got the developers a Special Development Order to build a hotel on Southlands’ 35 acres.
- That go-ahead was stopped by public protests against the development of the property, the last large green space in Warwick.
- To get itself off the hook, the government shifted the developers’ attention to Morgan’s Point, promising to give them 80 acres there if they dropped their rights to develop Southlands – a swap that in effect gave the developers control over Morgan’s Point’s 250 acres.
- In doing so, the government potentially compromised the best possible development of the site by depriving Bermuda of a competitive tendering process that could have brought forward other visions and plans for the property. Instead, the developers, whose original plans and vision had nothing to do with Morgan’s Point, worked to put together a scheme for the whole site – a massively different project from the hotel development they wanted to build at Southlands.
It is clear to everyone that Bermuda needs a new hotel development to boost the island’s reputation as a first-class destination. Morgan’s Point has the potential to be that catalyst, but do not be led astray by the Premier’s announcement on Monday. He was full of spin, creating the impression that a Morgan’s Point development was just around the corner. But the reality is that the land swap does nothing more than formally commit the developers to the Morgan’s Point property. Bermuda is many steps and most likely years away from resort development actually breaking ground.
We look forward to debating the land swap legislation and eventually the detailed plans for a Morgan’s Point resort. We are committed to doing whatever we can to move Bermuda tourism and Bermuda forward.
One final point we’d like to make has to do with the Premier’s remarks that the Southlands swap underlines the Government’s environmental credentials. This is another example of spin. The Premier was quite willing to see Southlands bulldozed for a hotel – in the same manner that he and his colleagues voted to destroy the Botanical Gardens for a new hospital. The PLP Government’s environmental record is nothing to brag about.
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