Eroded structures litter 7MB with hazardous debris
(CNS): The erosion of hard structures along the southern end of Seven Mile Beach has left a trail of hazardous debris from the Marriott hotel all the way past The Sovereign condos, caused by the weather system that eventually became Hurricane Helene. The fact that a fairly minor surge left crumbled sea walls, decks and other concrete structures in its wake is raising significant concerns about the future of Grand Cayman’s most important attraction.
The deck at the Marriott Resort and the structures at Royal Palms are already facing demolition orders, but the sea carried off walls and decks at several other properties, polluting the marine environment and leaving an unsightly mess on Grand Cayman’s famous beach.
Royal Palms, which had a beautiful full beachfront less than seven years ago, has suffered significant damage as the excessive development along Seven Mile Beach has had a knock-on impact on that site. In a handful of years, the sea has eroded the beach and washed up so close to the buildings that debris from structures built on the site decades ago is now being washed into the ocean.
“Repeated storms and bad weather have continued to damage Royal Palms, and debris has entered the sea,” a spokesperson for the Department of Environment told CNS recently. “At the same time, the chronic erosion in this region appears to have revealed debris that was previously buried under the sand. While some has clearly come from the existing dilapidated Royal Palms, some of the debris dates back to possibly the 1960s or 1970s, based on the materials.”
Dart, the owner of this site, closed down the bar and restaurant during COVID. However, the DoE has been working with the group for some time to ensure that debris was removed where that could be done by hand.
“On Wednesday, we received a request to review a demolition permit for some of the structures,” the spokesperson said. “We welcome this application because we have long felt that this building was a hazard, and given that it was vacant and derelict, it should be removed as part of a managed retreat.”
However, the DoE has also been looking at how debris on the beach and in the nearshore environment affects neighbouring properties.
“We truly understand that the level of hazardous debris on the beach and in the water is severe and requires addressing,” the spokesperson noted. “It will require heavy equipment operating in the water to remove it, and work in the water requires a coastal works permit. We have encouraged the surrounding properties to apply to remove the debris, and we have fully committed to making the review of the application an urgent priority for our team, but we have not yet received an application.”
The DoE, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, is scheduled to meet with the relevant landowners to discuss how to request an urgent coastal works permit from Cabinet so that clean-up works can commence. Dart recently submitted a planning application to build a temporary beach bar at Royal Palms, and the DoE said it delivered its review to the planning department and Central Planning Authority for consideration on 23 September.
The erosion is spreading north, and walking the length of Seven Mile Beach from the Marriott Resort to West Bay is now impossible as more than a mile of it is now treacherous. Following the recent rough weather, CNS attempted to walk along the whole beach but was unable to because of the extent of the erosion and the hazardous debris.
Many people are still not aware of the level of damage and the state of the beach, once famous for its length and depth. But multimillion-dollar oceanfront condos that once boasted about being located on this formally beautiful stretch of Seven Mile Beach are now precariously perched on crumbling structures that, with each passing storm, are gradually falling into the sea as the sand is lost and shows no sign of returning.
The government has still not developed a policy to tackle the situation, despite receiving advice from the Department of Environment and the National Conservation Council about a managed retreat and redefining the setbacks to prevent new development from adding to the erosion problem.
The draft Climate Change Policy published over a year ago identified erosion along Seven Mile Beach as one of the severe threats to the islands. Climate change and over-development are putting the tourism sector at risk, as well as increasing the risk to individual properties.
Cabinet finally approved a redrafted version of the policy just two weeks ago, though the document has not been made public. We are awaiting details from the ministry about its plans, if any, to begin working on at least the most severe threats listed in the climate risk assessment, which formed the basis of the original proposed policy.
The risk assessment noted that Cayman can expect fewer but more severe rainfall events, increased frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones and increases in air and sea temperatures. Over 50 specific risks were analysed in the assessment; 18 were found to be ‘severe’, including damage and inundation of the sewerage system and the loss of coastal protection with the removal of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass and beaches.
See video footage of Seven Mile Beach by Rory McDonough below:
Posted by Rory Joe McDonough on Thursday 3 October 2024
CNS: The caption on one of the photos has been corrected to identify Cayman Reef Resort. It was previously mislabeled as the Wyndham Reef Resort.
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Category: development, Local News, Policy, Politics
CNS: Would be good to see updated pictures later this week after a couple days of the current southwest and westerly winds, which is right now bringing in some rollers to SMB, chomping away at a few more grains of sand.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
Zzzz
If I owned one of these beac front, we’ll,,,, in the water front condos id be selling it right now. Honestly in 5 yrs it’ll be gone seriously
“Honestly in 5 yrs it’ll be gone seriously”
That would make it quite hard to sell.
If you look at Frasier Wellon’s developments, they all have appropriate measures to lessen erosion and promote a positive beach sustainability on SMB. Development can be done right or very, very, wrong. I rest my case.
Yup.
Watercolours, completed in 2014, is built back from the beach and ground floor elevated.
Watermark, to be completed later this year or early 2025, is built well back to the edge of West Bay Road, with the ground floor elevated around 16 feet above sea level.
Exactly! Grandview, Frasers’s first, south of Marriott, has sand AND Seagrapes. What a coincidence!!!
Oh but, but, but… those nasty TI groynes that have woken up after 20 years of sleeping will destroy Grandview’s beach when a NW storm hits. The groynes control the storms coming over the Atlantic, actually the control the entire weather patterns in the Caribbean. Release the TI Kraken!! (Yes, complete nonsense and sarcasm for those who don’t understand science).
Take them out then and let’s see smart ass, since you have nothing to fear
I love the thumbs down… Pure Cayman. I guess if you don’t comprehend the sarcasm, you believe the nonsense. We’ll see you at the next elections and see what your intellect results in for the next cycle of Ministers – I pray for better decisions.
Another obvious resin a cruise pier to accommodate mega ships should be a non-starter. Previously the Cayman Islands most alluring attraction accommodating thousands of cruise guests on any given day has been decimated. Our idiotic Govt wants to profit from the Black Friday sales but has no cheap tv’s in stock.
On the contrary. The pier has already been built. They tell us it is called the Marriott, but the plan is obvious. Only a couple more years of scouring of the sea floor, and it will be need enough. The ships will be pulling up right alongside.
Jumping from a cruise ship balcony into the Marriott pool will become a thing. Who needs Rick’s!
I hope the next nor’westa blows away every developer & all of our politicians too. The mess we’re in would start to get better.
The next “nor’westa” will bring sand back to south end of the beach. Like they used to when they were frequent.
No chance when there is all that concrete to go through and dump in the sea first.
When there was no wall to reflect the wave energy and lots of cocoplum to dissipate the wave energy and replenish the beach ridge? Oh, AND lots of parrotfish defecating new sand.
I hope the cheap labour and their fish tea were worth it.
You trying to sell?
Plant beach flora, coco plum bushes, etc. These provide natural barriers and allow for tidal surges.
No more concrete walls!!
Wow Cayman Reef Resort looks awful!
once a quant utopia now looks like a muddy swamp. This is almost like marrying a beautiful fit wife then 7 years later she turns into a 250 pound Jabba the Hut monster 😱
Wonder if the condos will go down in price and if the rentals will go down from $800 a night to something reasonable like $100 a night?
That’s not storm damage. They’re renovating the lawn area.
Might want to use saline tolerant grass.
BTW, the property in the video is Laguna Del Mar, not Cayman Reef.
The pictures silly. Pictures show Cayman Reef Resort along with other condos between Marriott upwards to Royal Palms and Sovereign
Same goes marrying a fit man and turns into….
Nah that’s not how the world works sorry to let you know but
Hot wife turning into a hideous beast is equivalent to a woman marrying a rich man that suddenly goes broke.
Would a woman prefer to marry a broke handsome man or a ultra high net worth man that’s not handsome?
Would a man prefer a gorgeous broke woman or a rich unattractive woman? It’s how the world works.
Follow the new Watermark building’s design plan: building is set right back against the road with huge spacing from the building to the water. The large front pool deck is raised 14 feet from sea level, with a large sand beach in front of it.
(I unfortunately don’t have $10 million in spare change hidden in my seat cushions to buy one!)
They obeyed he setback regulations which were apparently ignored by the developer of Laguna del Marrnie.
And had a blind eye turned to.
Most of the affected properties are 30 to 40 years old (Laguna Del Mar, Seagull, Cayman Reef Resort, Sovereign etc). All of these properties are very deep (ie, from water to West Bay Road).
The silver lining for the condo owners is that these properties can be successfully redeveloped, set back to nearer the road. Most of these existing properties are tired looking and dated; the beach erosion could simply provide the impetus to do the inevitable.
First to go might be Laguna, with the foundations of the front buildings now being eroded and compromised. They may not have much choice. I am sure this is something the owners are contemplating.
Don’t worry, the stupid tax payers will fix it all up for the rich and famous to live the high life. Out politicians and the CPA chairman will make sure of that!
Remove the groynes at Sunset Cove/Treasure Island!
And don’t even think about building a cruise terminal!
Woow, So you want an ocean front property. What a laugh, remove the walls and Mother Nature will do the rest. Only greedy condo and house property owners. Am so happy. Remember the old saying Cayman.The wise man built upon the rock, the stupid man built upon the sand. Stop destroying my country.
Poetic Justice.
Hilarious that you think it doesn’t affect you.
It literally does not.
I do not live on the beach as I am not from Canada or the USA.
I am not employed in construction – as I am not from Jamaica.
I am not employed in Tourism – as I am not from Jamaica, or the Philippines, or India, or Mexico, or Nepal, or Canada.
I am not employed in Transport – as I not from Jamaica.
I am not employed in Real Estate- as I am not from Canada.
I am not employed in the Government – as I am not from Jamaica, or Barbados, or Trinidad.
I am not employed in retail – as I am not from Honduras or the Philippines.
I do not get to enjoy the beach as I either told I am on private property and must move along, despite that not being true, or am told I am in the way of a higgler on Public Beach trying to lay out deck chairs, surrounded by the stink of ganja.
I do not rely on government finances as I have saved for my pension and I would not dream of putting my child through the government education system.
So no, it doesn’t affect me. Or thousands of other Caymanians.
Naivety Cayman style. #priceless
Everyone was warned what would happen. Marginalize and displace locals and they will not give a shit what happens to YOUR precious beachfront properties. You were invited to share with us. Not exclude us.
You did sell your beachfront land to the evil foreigner , right.?
Nope.
By the way, very few Caymanians owned any beachfront land on SMB. Too much crab, too much storm, too much mosquito, too little soil.
Caymanians used the beach for recreation, fishing, storing nets and boats, and transport (it was the land route between George Town and West Bay).
You are a Caymanian I would love to meet and develop a friendship!
Ludicrous that you are so asinine that I think it does not affect me, but that is par for the course.
I knew the hubris of developers and uber rich sandcastle erectors would negatively affect not only myself but also the entirety of Grand Cayman decades ago, but I was disregarded along with everyone else who spoke out against destroying the native coastal vegetation and replacing it with seawalls that negate the hydrologic process of beach sand ridge accretion.
As such, it is now poetic justice that these properties, and their owners, are contending with the consequences as a direct result of their derelict mindsets and their purposeful ignoring of foresight in the name of a myopic greed and a conceit which has poisoned Cayman in its entirety from the inside out and the outside in.
Not one copper ching ching of the public’s monies is to be spent on replenishing a beach which which is now desecrated due to the hubris of those who think Cayman is their fiefdom to be used and abused into perpetuity. Those who are responsible shall be the ones made to pay. Anything else is now and shall remain an affront and a crime against the Cayman Islands and all of her people.
Those who have the naked emperor’s gall to think that one singular copper ching ching of Cayman’s public monies are to be spent buying and/or procuring sand to fix the problem which they themselves have created are criminals, and they shall be, and they are to be, treated as such.
Successive sh*tshow governments have allowed this to happen with shifty backroom deals, brown envelopes, silly handshakes, nepotism and greed. I have zero sympathy for any of the condo owners whose properties will soon be worth pennies. You wanted a sea view? Well you’ve certainly got one now. You’re almost paddling in it. Deal with it.
You realise that it is the guys with the brown envelopes and shifty backroom deals who made the good cash then got out of there? The developers got their cash long ago. In a lot of these cases you have people who bought a property in good faith assuming that it would have been built to a proper planning standard.
This is heartbreaking! Where the hell is the government? Why is this being allowed to continue without the greedy developers being made to remove the damn walls and other structures? Wake up Caymanians! Tell y’all one thing, Mother Nature is wide awake land is not not afraid to continue her wrath!
The walls will remain until the red tape is removed.
Global warming will also kill cruise tourism with more ship cancellations and economic stressors yet there are some that think we need to build a pier and beach attractions all across the island. God I hope not because look what stupid gets you!
The ramifications of the disappearance of 7mb are going to be far reaching regardless of the combination of reasons why it is happening. As the beach recedes, will the properties already there and the complete monstrosities currently under construction even be financially viable ? seriously who would want to buy a “luxury” beach front condo with no beach, at risk of collapsing into the sea. same applies to the hotels, if the beach disappears why would anyone pay $1000 a night to stay to simply sit on a sun lounger. And if somehow the crooks in parliament get their way and construction of a new cruise terminal starts what impact could that have on the already beleaguered remnants of 7mb, not to mention sting ray city, coral gardens and other quickly deteriorating attractions. Ultimately greed is driving all of this for short term profit, but the only people left carrying the can when the developers, cruise companies and rich tax exiles depart will be the locals (but with no 7mb any more)
Everybody believes in climate change except when you can see something is not right with the development on the beach. What started it? When did it start? Then let’s start fixing it. Demolition order on Marriott’s extension? What happens if that don’t fix it ? Boggy sand extension? If that don’t fix it? Stop all development on 7 mile beach? Redo the sea wall and pile drive to 20 feet like they did in East End? Did that remove the sand from the beach in East End? Just a query.
Marnie’s wall first.
Indeed, that wall is what started it ALL, and the irony that THEY now plan to sue the Government is in such poor taste. Disgusting!
Unbelievable failure by CIG to properly manage Cayman’s primary tourist attraction. Erosion at both ends caused by structures built too close to the water. Higglers harassing beach goers. Resorts filling up their beachfronts with deck chairs. It’s all quite disgusting. This beach used to be the jewel of the Caribbean. The mismanagement of this vital attraction is just unbelievable.
Stop developing so close to the ocean/water. Especially Hyatt. A disgrace! Climate change yes but Planning needs to stop this insanity. empty properties with trees and nature still have beach. You can’t replace nature with concrete.
Bit late!
what is the walkable distance along 7 mile beach now? I know it was 6 miles, but would love to know if anyone has a GPS watch and has measured the parts you can actually walk on
It was nearer five miles last time I did it. But that was 20 years ago when walking the beach was pleasant, a true connect with nature, and before all the damage we see today.
Plenty of nice beaches in Scotland.
And it’s been sunny for 3 days this year.
UPM – forever etched in history as the death nails of George Town and ruiners of Seven Mile Beach.
lmfao what kind of revisionist history BS is this? They got in long after this issue started, and will be gone long before it is ever fixed, but they take the sole blame?
“Tell us you’re on PPM’s payroll without telling us”
What have they done about it? Devised a plan, engaged the stakeholders, allocated budget, read and understood the numerous engineers’ reports provided to them over numbers of years?
None of the above.
Stuck their heads in the rebar ridden remnants of the sand and tried to hide from the issue, which is a very far reaching national one whether you like it or not.
They shoulder blame.
Of course they do, but framing it as UPM alone who is at fault is disingenuous at best, and irresponsible and intentionally deceptive at worst. People don’t fall for these low level manipulations anymore, PPM bot.
It’s factual idiot bot, for the next seven months, they are the ones to blame.
Its already too late! Imagine something like Hurricane Milton hitting Cayman in particular seven mile beach and south sound? Total devastation and worst yet the whole island after the port goes in Bodden Town.
I believe you have my stapler.
Milton would wipe out all of Cayman entirely
Thanks again CPA for approving the Turner seawall 1980’s which set a precedent for all others.
The richest have been allowed to destroy Cayman!
The people you have elected are the ones responsible for, making you complicit.
With Caymanian consent and $$$$
And then the government says the island is for the millionaire tourist. Look at those pictures. Any more storms and not sure even the poor tourist will be interested.
these buildings on smb all need to be knocked down.
They wanted to build on the waters edge, to have unobstructed views. Well now they have them.
Best part is that you can no longer walk past, disrupting my views.
I actually probably have an unalterable right of way to pass between the sea and the natural vegetation line, wherever that may be. Will you be offering cocktails on your pool deck? I’ll bring the ladder to get onto it.
File then. Bet you won’t.
Depends on whether you block me in my peaceable enjoyment of the coastline, as my family have enjoyed for generations.
Until the DOE drop the “managed retreat” bullshit propaganda , nothing of substance will happen. It’s a deliberate strategy on their part, they want it all to fall in to the sea just so they can say I told you so.
The government will show no interest until Government House is impacted, and it will be.
People are fighting over the cause of the problem while Rome burns. The easiest solution is for beach replenishment, not to let the sea destroy buildings and turn the area back into the mangrove swamp it was 40 years ago.
Idiocy!!!!!
remove all walls, problem solved
Wrong
It probably won’t solve the problem now, but they were the cause of the problem. These properties are now unsellable and will have to be demolished and moved further back.
Au contraire, the properly engineered and constructed walls continue to do what they were designed to do. The fools who chose not to erect sea defense systems when they had the opportunity to do so are the ones now crying into their Aperol Spritz’s.
These walls was there 30 years ago and it was 100 feet away from water line. Sadly it is mother natural took seven mile beach sand.
Erosion does not happen in a day, my friend.
I am not sure I comprehend your logic. Do blame trees for forest fires?
Would there be forest fires without trees? Honest answers only.
No. But do we blame the trees or the arsonist with gasoline and matches?