Quarry plan on edge of reserve will need EIA
(CNS): Developers wanting to dig out 2.3 million cubic yards of fill from a site on the edge of Meagre Bay Pond will need to do an environmental impact assessment if the Central Planning Authority goes against its own policy and greenlights the plan. The application is to be heard by the CPA today, but a report by an advisory council has indicated there is enough marl coming from existing quarries to meet demand.
According to the agenda for the CPA meeting on Wednesday, Barrington Bennett and Amelia De Wood have made an application to excavate a 29-acre, 50ft deep commercial quarry in a body of water next to the reserve in Pease Bay, Bodden Town. The developers suggest it could become a floating solar farm after they have excavated rock from the site over a three-year period.
The $30 million project would see marl stockpiled to the south, where the proposed quarry could be extended in future. The developers have not made an application for a second quarry, though it is apparent from submissions that they are contemplating the idea.
The Department of Environment has already conducted a screening of the project on behalf of the National Conservation Council. Experts concluded that an EIA would be required, given the scale of the project and its proximity to a protected area, if the CPA ignores the advice it already has regarding fill supply.
There is already evidence that the mangroves in that area are in decline due to quarrying. Meagre Bay Pond and the 300ft wide band of mangroves around its margin were originally protected with Animal Sanctuary status in 1976. The pond provides a seasonal feeding area for large aggregations of herons and egrets as well as other resident and migratory birds.
In 2004 Hurricane Ivan caused extensive mangrove death. Since then, industrial quarrying encroaching on the area has undermined the site and its recovery. This has led to hydrological changes in the pond and concerns that its value to wildlife may be deteriorating.
Meanwhile, the CPA has an Aggregate Policy that has been in force for almost twenty years. It is meant to restrict quarrying so that it remains in line with demand and prevent new quarries until absolutely necessary based on a five-year supply. The Aggregate Advisory Council, which manages the policy, found in a report published in April that there is sufficient aggregate coming from licensed quarries and noted the need to protect the reserve.
Given that the CPA has turned down other quarries in recent years, the AAC said it would be inconsistent to approve this one, which was also refused in 2018. The members also raised concerns about some of the technical aspects of the plans and the equipment and expressed doubt that the applicants could reach the target depth, which is essential for productivity, with this proposal.
The AAC said there was no “exceptional need to disregard the Aggregate Policy”, which does not permit quarries until the fill reserves drop to a five-year supply and that this is a long way from happening.
See the full details on today’s CPA agenda in the CNS Library.
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Category: development, Local News
hush
EIA is only required if the developers are not connected with our esteemed politicians.
F it, it’s not like this place is worth saving. let’s sell the whole island for fill and go our separate ways while we still can.
You think these people don’t know that this is a bad idea? Do you think they care?
I’m not optimistic that there are enough sensible Caymanians to get our islands under control. When did we become so stupid and shortsighted as a people? When did we become so passive that we will let our own idiotic countrymen and foreigners with money and connections, destroy our home. Then we turn around and blame everybody but ourselves for letting it happen.
Are we as caymanians really this pathetic that we can’t get get the most basic policies and procedures in place to accomodate future growth while protecting our quality of life?
The recent education Ministers, especially the current waste of space juju have set us up for a future that is going to be way more challenging than it should have been and I don’t have the faith that we have what it takes to keep our heads, or our property above water.
CPA push it thru please! We need way more development not less. Build – build – build!
The Cayman Islands would be much better off if they got rid of the CPA. All they seem to be interested in is MORE MONEY for themselves.
Raping mother earth and killing natural habitats forthe inhabitants juast for more concrete and roads.
Now this is Caymankind!
Sounds like phase one of Port Breakers!
Still a better idea than Port Zeus mind you.
Don’t quarry, be happy.
Don’t quarry, about a ting.
I am so annoyed about this. I live in Pease Bay right next to this pond. Yet the committee is meeting to decide upon this today and none of the local residents were informed about it so unable to give any input or opinion. I’m literally right there next to the lake.
Having a quarry right next to my house could surely be expected to have an impact on my property and my quality of life. Don’t planning have a responsibility to make sure residents are informed so we have a chance to inspect the plans and make representations to the committee?
There is something deeply flawed with Cayman’s planning process, and those that approve them.
It would have been sent to your PO Box. Its just that its (a) lost or (b) soon come (usual post office service)
I believe we have reached the point where no more buildings, quarrying , roads or other activities should be allowed in these sensitives areas. When is enough enough?
Nothing came. Not informed at all. If they did send something, then they should make sure it arrives before the meeting, or what is the point?
So the other half of the bluff that Schilling is fixing to blow up isn’t enough material?
Can we not just get fill from the brac? People are trying to find land in grand not get rid of it.
or import from somewhere else via barge?
What ignorance, the Caymanians can no longer buy a house because the less local aggregate would be more expensive to build when imported, the more expensive it will be! Of course, the current owners of the Quarry want to avoid competition. Let’s hope these new owners offer more affordable prices.
Haven’t you folks consumed enough of the Brac’s resources? How much more do you plan to allow to be built? Hardly anyplace left to go but up, and there isn’t even close to the roads and other infrastructure to support the current population, let alone an ever-expanding one.
This current project is a disaster. I cannot conceive of a more environmentally adverse project than creating a quarry at the edge of a mangrove pond. Cray cray. Why not start one at the edge of the Botanic Park?
Here’s an idea: We need aggregate, right? How about knocking down some of these abandoned monstrosities and tossing them in the crusher? You’re certain to get medium, small and dust particles just as when crushing limestone karst.
Dollars spent in the Brac is spending locally. Otherwise those dollars leave the country…