New Seven Mile Beach wall already in ocean

| 25/08/2021 | 119 Comments
Cayman News Service
Regal Beach Club wall under construction

(CNS): The sea wall project at Regal Beach Club condos on Seven Mile Beach, which has been causing a stir on social media as construction materials continue to fall into the sea, is an example of how efforts to address the beach erosion on Cayman’s famous but now dwindling stretch of beach can make things worse. The project to build a sea wall to protect the property is only part way through but the wall is already in the ocean.

This not only illustrates the futility of the effort but also how much further the beach has eroded since the owners were granted planning permission for the wall. The Department of Environment said that the project is problematic but there are no mitigating measures that can be deployed.

A spokesperson from the department told CNS this week that they have advised the developer to get the project completed as quickly as possible now because the process is contaminating the marine environment as aggregate and construction materials are constantly washing into the ocean.

The DoE’s recommendation not to grant planning permission for this wall was ignored by the Central Planning Authority. Now there is no advice to offer the developers to lessen the adverse impacts and there is nothing that can be done except to expedite the project to reduce the amount of debris getting into the water.

The condo complex is one of a number of properties stretching from Ken Dart’s private family residence to the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort that are now suffering the direct consequences of building concrete structures too close to the water’s edge, on a dynamic beach, in the face of rising sea levels.

The owners at Regal Beach secured planning permission last year but the project did not need a coastal works licence as the work was, at the time, still intended to be within the property footprint and under the jurisdiction of the planning department. However, due to the erosion, the sea is already lapping at the wall, which is still under construction.

A spokesperson for Regal Beach told CNS earlier this year they were hoping that by building a proper seawall to replace the previous garden wall they could protect the condos. But this additional concrete structure will compound the problem of beach erosion along this stretch of Seven Mile Beach, and there is no sign of the sand returning.

The DoE continues to urge the CPA not to grant approval to applicants seeking to erect hard structures on the beach because this does little to increase the resilience of properties against the inevitable effects of climate change, such as coastal flooding, storm surge and erosion, but does have a detrimental impact on the beach and compounds the erosion.

The current work at Regal Beach is serving to illustrate how allowing more construction on the beach fuels the beach loss problem and leads to pollution of the water along the beach.

The new PACT Government has made a commitment to address this issue and Premier Wayne Panton, as Minister for Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, has established a a task force to examine the causes of the erosion and potential solutions.

Panton recently visited the Marriott hotel, which has a substantial concrete footprint on what was once a dynamic beach and has suffered the consequences. It has now been more than a year since the Marriott had any beach at all and the likelihood of it returning is very low.

The DoE experts have already said that in most cases the only solution is a managed retreat for existing properties and amendments to the planning law to increase the high-water mark setbacks to more appropriate distances.


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Category: development, Local News, Marine Environment, Science & Nature

Comments (119)

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  1. Leo Bradshaw says:

    Simply put Ivan moved tons of sand that would move from shallow water up and down the bwach. That sand has now gone and has never been replaced. The beach sand has been slowly replacing it and a solution needs to be found. One is to replace as much sand that Ivan moved with that sand being moved back and secondly moving the shore line out farther into the water. A reef or series ofbreakwaters to lessen the erosion. It will cost millions but it will work if the powers tha be will hire the Dutch to do the job and stop interfering with things. The Dutch are the best at this and need to be called to do this. Reef structures are goo reef damaged for the overall health of the invironment because they block excessive wave damage and protect the shoreline from erosion. Look at the beach on Provo in the Turks and Caicos as the best example. Inside the reef is a beach that is fantasti along with some of the best snorkeling anywhere. With the right reef system things would improve what Cayman has and make it better not worse. Reefs protect and should be installed to grow and expand so the future of 7 Mile Beach is assured and not destroyed. Move quickly and protect Cayman from more damage from both the invironmentalists who, although correct, want everyone to change the shorline and build a protective reef to stop or reduce storm damage. Common sense and proper planning now will work.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Michael Ryan’s Fin project is only 43ft from the sea. Will it be affected by the rising water level?

  3. Anonymous says:

    #takedowntheseawalls

    • Anonymous says:

      How can the CPA/Planning/Cabinet approve construction in the sea?

      Yeah, yeah you also approve docks, and you did approve groynes at starfish point but Christ man, we gotta move on and take these things seriously.

      This erosion is no joke joke business.

      Wayne, please stop waving your hands around and do something – the very something that you promised to do whilst on your political pulpit. Talking about doing something is no longer on.

      Task Force, my arse

      This goes far beyond that archaic civil service notion

      Hire someone/something that knows what to do in this situation – and that entity has to be objective and free of local influences.

    • GT East says:

      The walls will all come down eventually…they where built as a retaining walls to to protect the pools and decks etc …a sea wall is a totally different engineered wall ,maybe sheet pilled all the way to bed rock and full reinforced concrete specially engineered …these walls will be undermined and the decks and pools will collapse.just a matter of time

  4. Anonymous says:

    Sad. Greedy pigs. Leave now.

    • Anonymous says:

      Residents know where the natural vegetation line was, and still is – that’s the beach ridge and at least 20 feet back from that line should have been the limit for any building.

      Respect it finally, mandate a gradual and managed retreat back to that line

      To think that the arrogant fools moved the limit as recently as the mid-1980s.

      Some persons even got royal gongs in the process.

      Truly disgusting!

    • Anonymous says:

      Errr you don’t mean cayman’s pride of the planning comission, do you?

  5. Anonymous says:

    Unless the tide is really low, you can’t get further than Dart’s cabana (which is illegal apparently) but why would you want to anyway? After there, it looks like a bomb has gone off at that part of the beach. Building debris, Palms is an eyesore, old watersports stuff and broken loungers. What a shame. No tourist in their right mind would want to lie there.

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree. That guy constructs buildings very quickly but when it comes to clearing up his mess, his company goes on a ‘go slow’.

      For the residents of the neighbouring Island Pines, the wreck of Royal Palms and the abandoned wave runners, beach equipment and broken chain fencing is an eyesore. Its a disgrace!

      • GT East says:

        The old Hyatt is a prime example they don’t show that in the Camana Bay times
        The old palms is a disgrace Gov need to clean it up and back charge them it’s a eye sore

    • Cesare ( not Cesarium) says:

      Yes bro; I think this are the same people that tried to cover the sun with one finger.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Get your greedy hands out of the cookie jar.

    Not a single penny of the public purse should be spent fixing this problem which was knowingly created by greedy developers.

    Those who now own the problematic structures should be forced to tear them down.

    Period.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Look, whatever caused the problem is irrelevant. What is needed is beach replenishment with new sand. Let the condo and hotel owners pay for it (they will be glad to), and ship it in from Cuba (or some other close location) duty free. Do not let middle men jack up the price enormously, as this is a “national issue.” Each of those condos there is worth millions of dollars. Ten million dollars could easily be raised in a special tax on a mile of beachfront and would buy hundreds of barges of high quality sand placed on the beach. Miles of beachfront have been restored in Florida for that kind of money (Vero Beach).

    The second step is to fix the wave action. If the waves are too big nowadays, then put some large submerged concrete piers out there to serve as a reef. The piers don’t have to break the surface, and their location could be outlined by buoys to prevent watercraft running into them. Again, this will cost millions, but end up protecting billions in dollars of real estate, and a huge construction industry that cannot be taken away by organizations like the FATF.

    Or, we could just do the usual thumb sucking and write stupid reports to assess the situation.

    • Anonymous says:

      It would be interesting to know with all this concrete & submerged piers what your stance on the port referendum is.

      Large scale beach replenishment seems to be typically done with pumping sand from offshore or trucking it in from nearby sources. SMB is not sand as in Cuba, it is coral sand and there aren’t plentiful offshore resources.

      Before you go blustering with your 26 sentences about saving billions of dollars of real estate, do a little research and consider the potential incalculable damage to the environment

      https://www.ircgov.com/Departments/Public_Works/Coastal_Engineering_Section/Beach-Restoration.pdf

      • Anonymous says:

        If this problem is not fixed, it will do incalculable damage to the economy of the Cayman Islands, and neither of us will be sitting in air-conditioning and posting on a website. Seven Mile Beach is an asset that cannot be taken away from Cayman (unlike financial services), and it needs to be managed properly. All of this talk about managed retreat is not accurate – the original land on which many of these condos are built (like Plantation Village) was swamp and had to be filled in with marl. There was only a ridge of sand by the sea and a lot of mangroves. In fact, there is conjecture that West Bay and George Town were separated at one point, and the connecting isthmus was filled in by Mangroves and then sand. If you go walking through the dike roads, you will see this is probably true. Restoring to the previous condition would mean swamp water and mangroves all the way to West Bay Road. We do not have a situation with endless land on the other side from the sea. This problem requires engineering to solve and it needs to be done now.

        • Anonymous says:

          It’s easy to fix though. Every sea wall has to be removed so that the sea can restore the beach.

    • Anonymous says:

      5:02am

      Don’t think this could even be imagined by a person under heavy sedation much less written by a person that is supposedly awake.

      This has to be a digi-troll or someone taking a sarcastic piss 😂😂😂😂

    • Anonymous says:

      5:02 clearly you work in the private sector. Oh my goodness.

    • Cesar ( not related to Julius) says:

      Your excellence: thank you for taking the time to illuminate us stupid caymanians.Did you just say :
      To pour salt in the sea , and then get a fleet o tugboats and pull isla de la juventud fron cuba
      to 7 mile beach. You know what my dear bro.?they can also make a bonefire with those 50M bucks in what’s left of 7 seven mile beach., and old man sea ,will always kick your derrière.

  8. Anonymous says:

    You want pact to do it why not the people who made the mess, why should we pay for it.

    • Angus says:

      CPA all members of the private sector. Shut down the CPA and allow civil servants to make these decisions.

      We have a long history of private sector boards failing us.

      Will the PACT Government be the one Government willing to make the tough decision to shut these failing boards down. AwfulReg, CPA, NRA, Port Authority, Airports Authority, MACI to name a few.

      Time will tell.

      • Anonymous says:

        I love when civil servants post on here because they think that their shit don’t stink and that everyone else is a mess.

  9. Anonymous says:

    No need to be divisive by implying it’s only expats.

    It’s simply a problem caused by the developers and owners of condos on the beach. Whether they’re rich or not, or expats or not, is irrelevant.

    • Anonymous says:

      All true and all relevant. And all expats.

      • Anonymous says:

        all who were granted building permission by Caymanians

        • Anonymous says:

          Again, why Caymanians think that we came here and ruined it when they gave it away willingly. I don’t see the majority of them signing up to help for charity or clean it up on the beach.

          • Fed up Caymanian says:

            2:29
            You only do those things for PR points.

            Many came here with BA’s, Masters, and Ph.D.’s to find only primary or maybe some high school educated people and took advantage of the situation. Unlike yourself, we don’t have to show the world and brag about doing our civic duty but to say we all do nothing is a lie.

            Not all immigrants are out for themselves but you don’t come here for the good of our people or our country. You’re here because it benefits you and for most of you, being here provides you with a better life. Pretending like you’re doing the most for us while we have the product that has thousands of people just like you trying to take up residence here all the time is laughable. This all being said, I like immigrants. You have pushed us to do more and be better and brought outside influence and knowledge some of our people may never have seen otherwise. But the ones like you, you’re the reason why when we’re fed up we tell you to, “go back home.”

            Our welcoming nature has been part of our downfall alongside a lack of foresight, property ownership laws, status grants, bending of laws, and career politicians with high school education.

            Side (rhetorical) note: you think the beach developers all came here as Caymanians?

            1
            1
        • Anonymous says:

          Actually I believe Canadians were the senior planning officials for much of the relevant time.

        • Anonymous says:

          Some of these buildings and structures seem to have been built without formal permission.

  10. Anonymous says:

    You want pact to do it why not the people who made the mess, why should we pay for it.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I’ve got an idea. Stop all multi unit development (hotels,condos etc) until the beach erosion is solved. Force the developers who caused it to fix it. If that means bulldozing the walls and moving some buildings back then so be it. They should cover the costs.

  12. The "beach" is mine....can bathe there anytime says:

    I read this article with interest.

    For years only expatriates and a handful of Caymanians could afford condos on the world-famous Seven Mile Beach, while the majority of country is slowly being herded into the bush.

    They snubbed their noses at those who could not afford to live there, they put up fences and no trespassing signs and blocked Beach Access walkways and snarled at you if they thought you were walking too close to their property while walking on the beach.

    What will become of their condos now? How the “mighty” have fallen.

    • Anonymous says:

      No need to be divisive by implying it’s only expats.

      It’s simply a problem caused by the developers and owners of condos on the beach. Whether they’re rich or not, or expats or not, is irrelevant.

  13. Anonymous says:

    This is a man made tragedy. Pure greed and ignorance. Easily fixed by removing all sea walls from Dart’s house south to Treasure Island, including Marriott pool which can go back the courtyard where it originally was. This is a no brainer and could be completed in a matter of months. A big problem is no MLA ever goes to the beach. They love the a/c too much.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Wouldn’t like to think how much the price of Regal Beach units has dropped – what a shame……

    • Anonymous says:

      Hopefully they will drop far enough that the beachfront units will disappear

    • Anonymous says:

      Why? They have made a fortune over the last ten years. Building on or close to a beach is always a risk. Furthermore, the strata will have insurance.

  15. Anonymous says:

    As the ‘beach’ is public property up to the high water line, then surely these buildings are totally illegal. The requirement should be that they are taken down.
    The sea should be allowed to deposit sand further inland – where the cocoplum used to be.
    If you build a house on the edge of a cliff and the cliff crumbles away then it’s just too bad.
    I would like to think that the developers would have to clear their building debris away from the beach – they should be held to task.

  16. Anonymous says:

    The lesson here is: there are so many dodgy characters, don’t expect condo owners and Stratas to act in the public’s best interest. PACT needs to expand the scope of coastal works licenses beyond current setbacks, and add in a marine hydro impact study. Our facile applications and low standards of personal integrity require harder tests. The cost to all by ignoring is too high.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Tear down this wall!” ” Mr. Developer, tear down this wall “

  18. Anonymous says:

    World famous “Seven Mile Wall”

  19. Anonymous says:

    The sea level is not rising otherwise the whole beach would be affected….

  20. Anonymous says:

    The ignorance from an uncomfortable majority of investors in the Cayman Islands to growing piles of evidence of beach erosion and environmental destruction, just to protect somebody’s arrogantly placed, ego-driven vacation toys and greed-enabling cash crops, is completely abysmal and narcissistically self-centric.

    The sea always wins. Respect it and don’t try to control it.

    Fighting a losing battle and these groups always conveniently wake up AFTER it is too late. These groups eventually divest when broader horizons beckon; leaving the locals to pick up the pieces of what is left and deal with consequences not of their own doing.

    Rinse and repeat for many of these “investors”, often hopping country to country in my experience.

    Simply irresponsible and reckless resource management and neglect. All of this behaviour should be followed with due justice and swift accountability.

    – Criminal charges with appropriate jail times
    – Substantial and behaviour-humbling fines
    – Funding full remediation costs
    – Asset confiscations
    – International blacklisting
    – Global extradition powers to ensure offenders face an adjudicator
    All in order, if you ask me.

    PACT and any ethical legal expert free ball.

    • Anonymous says:

      Well said!

    • Anonymous says:

      And the whole planning board sued!

    • Anonymous says:

      Looking forward to the basis of the action when the developer shows that they obtained planning permission. How can development that was approved by the CPA be illegal – unless you can prove that the approval was criminally obtained you are on a hiding to nothing going after the developers. Think you are pointing your gun in the wrong direction.

      • Anonymous says:

        All I can say is be prepared to stare down the barrel of stacks of lawsuits, fines, and jail time due to inland property flooding damage caused by coastline destruction damage from tropical cyclones.

        TS Ida is coming tonight! Amateur season is over.

  21. Anonymous says:

    There was already a wall there! So they’ve build ANOTHER one…..

  22. Anonymous says:

    Newsflash, – nominees up for ‘Darwin Awards’ in multiple categories 🏆

  23. #caymanlost says:

    Ergun Berksoy owns 10 units in Regal Beach. He will be happy building a ‘castle’ fortress. No accounting for taste at the end of the day but really wish he’d take his crappy ideas elsewhere.

    • Anonymous says:

      Sorry to correct you but Berksoys own 22 units in Regal Beach no 10.

      He had his boy on the past CPA and everything ws running smooth until Mother Nature decided differently.

  24. Anonymous says:

    Can the strata be sued for environmental damage?

  25. Anonymous says:

    It is pointless. The more they try to stop the ocean, they more the sea will claim it rightfully owns. The best thing is to sit down with lawyers to set a mutually amenable price for all impacted properties and buy them on behalf of the people of the Cayman Islands. Subsequently, implode them, clear the debris and let the ocean bring back the beach naturally. And do not sell them again. Lesson learned.

    • Anonymous says:

      The people of the Cayman Islands should not have to contribute a single cent. It is a problem for the landowners themselves to remedy, and they had better take into account all of our prescriptive right to pass and peaceably enjoy the beach in that area. I (and everyone else) has a right of way along there, without getting wet.

    • Actually says:

      The value must have plummeted, what with the beach gone…

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree.
      Sound utilization of government funds in my opinion- it would be an investment in preservation of future tourism. Anything less than what you have suggested will likely be a stain on Cayman’s tourism product.

      I don’t think any piecemeal solutions will result in much improvement, aside from merely kicking the proverbial can down the beach for future generations to fix or live with.

      Take bold action now with the intent to resolve it for the next seven generations.

  26. Anonymous says:

    I wonder how and why this happened? We need to look more carefully at developers’ plans.

    • Anonymous says:

      That is what the Planning Board was supposed to be for.

      • Anonymous says:

        And DOE enforcement, but they’re too busy with their own businesses.

        • Hush says:

          They IGNORED the DOE’s recommendation. Didn’t you read that? As a matter of fact, the poor DOE should pack it in; it’s advice is never taken seriously.

          • Anonymous says:

            Understood

            But still,

            stop running your personal on CIG time and

            cut down on your personal
            time spent hanging-out in Cafe del Sol @ Savannah whilst still being paid by CIG

            Get it now?

    • Anonymous says:

      Money over sense………

    • Anonymous says:

      money is how this happened

    • Wun Hoo Noe says:

      @ 10:46 am: Developers plans?? Well, maybe…. but perhaps a closer look at their lack of intelligence would be more meaningful. And may I add: Shame, shame, shame, on our greedy CPA!

    • Anonymous says:

      Doesn’t make any difference if those who scrutinize plans are not professionally qualified .
      The Board is made up of politician’s friends, and the planning department is comprised of civil servants.
      These people are no match for experienced developers and their consultants.

  27. Al Catraz says:

    Gee, what a surprise.

    Has anyone tried thoughts and prayers?

  28. Anonymous says:

    Look at the humans destroying the beautiful islands.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Welcome to the Cayman Islands. Home of the world famous Seven Mile Sea Wall. Sadly this is the future if we do not make the hard decisions now.

  30. Anonymous says:

    “Premier Wayne Panton, as Minister for Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, has established a a task force to examine the causes of the erosion and potential solutions.“

    This is NOT a job for a “task force” rounded up on island. This examination and proposed solutions need to be done professionally with an engineering group that includes structural/civil/environmental engineers with experience specifically in beach erosion. Wayne better start finding the best of the best to remedy this before buildings start falling into the sea.

    • Anonymous says:

      But a task force can get you to the next elections without anything being done. After the task force has completed their report, a committee will be appointed to evaluate the report. The committee will surely see the need to bring in consultants…….

    • Anonymous says:

      The buildings will fall into the sea. This is not a civil engineering problem. This is an environmental and social issue caused by improper setbacks, construction on an active beach, and lack of natural vegetation needed to dissipate wave energy and increase sand deposits. If another foreigner comes here with a cement truck to further screw up paradise, there is a real risk I will lose it on them. Jack took my beach. I am entitled to have it back, no matter what cost to Jack’s buildings.

    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, fine, but its not “Wayne’s” fault – he is trying to pick up the pieces of crap left behind from the previous Gov’t! Alden’s clan should have dealt with that long ago instead of trying to build cruise ship piers etc.!!! Too bad Wayne has to deal with this, instead of more important things like affordable housing for low income people!! Instead of trying to save the wealthy seaside owners homes!!

    • Anonymous says:

      My grandpa say we don’t need no task force, all we need is some common sense. They built their hotels and condos too near to the water and then to make matters worse they built the walls to keep out the water.Take down the fence, tear off about 20 feet from the seaside of the buildings and voila!! Subject closed!

      • Anonymous says:

        Subject closed??? Are you kidding? That will just be the start!

        • Anonymous says:

          I didn’t really mean subject closed – I meant I said my piece and that was all I was going to say. At least for the time being!! Silly me.!

  31. Anonymous says:

    First problem is thinking DOE has a frigging clue about this or worse the CPA. This needs to be addressed by a highly trained engineer, specialized in erosion.

    • Chris Johnson says:

      To be fair frequently the CPA does not listen to the DOE nor other Government departments. A great example is the Kel Thompson building and slabs of concrete, still being used, now with unapproved fencing on North Church Street. Despite the Appeals Tribunal sending the matter back to the CPA both continue to be used in contravention of the law. The CPA enforcement division is a total joke.
      What is the point in having a DOE if they are ignored all the time.

      • Anonymous says:

        After every election as far back as i can remember the new government finds it necessary to change up the ministries and the portfolios for whatever reason?? I think they should now put planning and DOE together to work in tandem to try to make a meaningful effort to save what little we have left of our Beloved Isle Cayman. It is past time that the planning department work for the good of we the people ans stop allowing this wanton destruction. How do they get to do this over and over ? Who are these people anyway? The public has been complaining for years and nothing has been done. They seem to be operating as an autocratic government instead of a department! Why is this allowed to happen?

        • Dewie Kaire says:

          @ Anonymous 9:29 pm: Why is it allowed to happen? It is allowed to happen because it is very lucrative to the people involved. Haven’t you heard of kickbacks, or payola. or greasing hands, etc.? Of course the people who are aware of this and do nothing are part of the process and get their palms greased for looking the other way. It seems all governments have people who can’t resist the opportunity to enrich themselves, believing it’s okay because everyone else is doing it! The Cayman Islands probably has one of the most incompetent anti-corruption services in the world! Just saying……………….

      • Anonymous says:

        Chris, I agree with you that CPA has ignored DOE on many occasions…..hence my “worse the CPA” comment.

        Honestly, developments in Cayman are on a scale beyond having approvals done by a bunch of persons appointed by their politician friends. We should have a zoning/assessment/approval department made up of QUALIFIED persons that know what the hell they’re doing and are INDEPENDENT of the construction/building supplies industry.

  32. Anonymous says:

    A simple solution is to fine/jail CPA board for years of damage done to the islands.
    If your doctor wrongs you, you sue for malpractice? How much longer do we keep letting these people get away with environmental crimes.

    • Anonymous says:

      the issue of cig and civil service gross incompetence is endemic.
      cig know this and hence have statutorial protection against liabality issues.
      you can can only successfully sue cig if you can prove willful negliegence (which is almost impossible)
      welcome to wonderland…

    • Anonymous says:

      100% in agreement. They keep bypassing Doe reports and alloex

    • Anonymous says:

      CPA board is appointed by elected politicians and do their bidding or will be replaced by someone who will. However, I do understand your reasoning, but has putting a drug pusher with five spliffs in his pocket in jail ever stopped a large shipment of drugs from entering the country?

  33. Anonymous says:

    Fixing temporarily and leaving the future for someone else to clean up. Gen Xers and prior generations call Millenials and Gen Z selfish and greedy, but this is what they are leaving for us to deal with.

    Sigh.

  34. Anonymous says:

    Regal Beach is toast. Surprised any of those properties are insurable (or mortgageable). Entire complex needs demolishing and moving back at least 250 feet or more.

    • Anon says:

      Same for the Marriott. They built to close to the water. Marriot should destroy the pool and deck area and move it to the courtyard.

      • Anonymous says:

        Wouldn’t be enough. They need to move the hotel into the car park.

      • Anonymous says:

        Why they didn’t buy the property across the road when they had the chance is a strange one.

      • mervyn cumber says:

        9.44am. That is where the pool was when the hotel was the Radisson.I ran the dive shop there and the beach was magnificent then.

        • Anonymous says:

          But the pool was built too close to the beach. It was built some 30 to 50 feet nearer to the sea than what was given in the original planning permission.

          I was part of one of the many outside contractor groups who met at Pagoda every Friday to discuss the project. The bald-headed arrogant project manager for Tennessee was of the opinion that nobody in Cayman new anything and it was going to be built they way that he wanted it done.

          When Planning inspected the site after they had started construction of the pool they halted the project because he had put the pool 50 feet nearer to the sea that what it was in the approved plans. The developers went to Executive Council who decided to override Planning, and I believe they did compromise by getting them to move the pool back about 20 feet. So that is where all the sh1t began!

          • Anonymous says:

            Exactly. And the whole thing was open to corruption. We will never know (because our law enforcers never bother to sniff around the really big important stuff), but I will always be left with the impression that it was people from outside these Islands acting in breach of our laws for their own personal profit, that did this. Yes, there were local enablers, but we don’t do accountability.

          • Anonymous says:

            FOI Executive Council Minutes for that timeframe…..

          • Anonymous says:

            Mervyn you are losing your memory.. don’t you remember how wide and nice that beach was before the Radisson built the pool and deck? You do remember that pool was built after the Radisson had been there for some years.Do you not remember how far down past that to the south how wide the beach was..I remember.

            I also remember that once they built it that they beach started eroding. The government at the time allowed them to do it despite many protests. It was long when every Tom, Dick and Harry was selling them options to fix the problem. Some of them like the reef balls remain today and probably did more to lose the sand than keep it.

            Mervyn, I know your family has been in the villa and watersports business for years (Regal Beach next door to the Marriott is a big one)and unfortunately folks like you didn’t have the foresight and still don’t to understand that doing everything to make you rich and leaving nothing behind for future generations to enjoy and like we were able to. What you failed to understand is that we are not on this earth forever. We cannot take our wealth with us. We can leave dollars bills for our children and grandchildren but they will never know how beautiful our beaches were save for seeing them in photos.

            Your son was just involved in some scheme with John John and the PPM to get him the approval to build an almost 200ft dock out into the North Sound. What are your thoughts on that one? Are you going to say that before he built his dock everything was great too..What if everyone in Vista Del Mar, Crystal Harbor and Governors Harbor wanted to build these gigantic and extremely long docks out into the North South?

            Mervyn, at the end of the day, we are destroying what you and I grew up enjoying. Every time I go to walk on the beach now I cringe in horror at how much devastation has taken place over the years by developers with the help of past corrupt governments and Panning Boards.

      • Anonymous says:

        And Plantation Village!

        • Big Bobo In West Bay says:

          Never a better time to buy at Plantation Village.

          Selling my place. Time to get out before it is too late.

    • Anonymous says:

      Cue the realtors sales pitch : “Absolutely stunning, impeccable property , glorious beach views , Epic beach living “.

      • Anonymous says:

        Better yet – if anything goes wrong we will just get the stupid taxpayers to pick up the tab. Make them pay for their own issues.

        • Anonymous says:

          I believe that would be a violation of these developers/owners civil rights, besides we will not have any more development if we were to stop the give a way programs. Forbid they go somewhere else to invest – what would we do?

      • Anonymous says:

        OUT OF THIS WORLD

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