development
Westin 10-storey re-vamp needs traffic survey
(CNS): At a Central Planning Authority meeting last month, the board adjourned an application by Invincible Investment Corporation for a more than $153 million re-vamp of the Westin Hotel on Seven Mile Beach. The CPA has ordered the developers to undertake a traffic survey to assess the impact of the proposed ten-storey tower and expanded […]
$2M EIA contract awarded to US engineers
(CNS): A US engineering company, Whitman, Requardt & Associates LLP based in Maryland, has won the contract to conduct the environmental impact assessment for the controversial part of the East-West Arterial Extension from Woodland Drive in Bodden Town, through the critical Central Mangrove Wetlands, to Frank Sound in North Side.
Over-water resort kicked back to DCB after appeal
(CNS): The Planning Appeals Tribunal has quashed a decision by the Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Development Control Board (DCB) to grant planning permission for the land element of a resort in Little Cayman following a successful appeal by objectors. The tribunal found the lack of details to support the decision meant it couldn’t be […]
DP calls for 30-storey buildings away from beach
(CNS): Deputy Premier Chris Saunders has called for a conversation about a policy change that would allow for much taller buildings on Grand Cayman that are well away from the beach. Saunders has suggested this as a solution to the housing crisis that the country is now facing and to enable an increase in room […]
Caribbean is world’s worst region for diversity loss
(CNS): The Caribbean and Latin America Region has seen a decline in animal and fish populations of 94% over the last 50 years, according to an analysis of bio-diversity by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published Thursday in the Living Planet Report 2022. The world has seen a devastating drop of over 69% but this […]
Rezone will increase pressure on 7M Public Beach
(CNS): Parliament has voted to rezone several parcels of land by Seven Mile Public Beach that will allow for ten-storey development and ultimately increase the pressure on one of only a handful of remaining places where people can still freely access Seven Mile Beach. The site of the RBS Coutts Building and Trafalgar Place is […]
7MB erosion worsens after Ian batters structures
(CNS): The passage of Hurricane Ian this week has revealed the seriousness of the erosion problems on Seven Mile Beach and how seawalls and hard structures, far from solving the problem, are making matters worse. In some places where there are no hard structures on the dynamic beach, the ocean delivered new deposits of sand. […]
CPA sticks by NCC order over turtle lights
(CNS): The Central Planning Authority has said it is obligated to follow a National Conservation Council direction to find that a condition of planning approval for turtle-friendly lighting at a proposed luxury beachfront house in Rum Point had not been met. During its meeting last week, the CPA said the recent court ruling meant they […]
NCC and CPA facing another potential battle
(CNS): The Central Planning Authority and the National Conservation Council might be engaged in yet another dispute over the council’s powers to curtail unsustainable development. This time, in one of only five projects where the NCC has issued a directive, the pending conflict is over a developer’s failure to submit an adequate turtle-friendly lighting plan […]
Grand Harbour remains NRA’s main challenge
(CNS): The director of the National Roads Authority has said that Grand Harbour presents a significant challenge when it comes to addressing traffic congestion. Edward Howard said it’s a constrained area for traffic and the only way to go east. But at the same time, the area is becoming busier, with new commercial development and […]
Activists launch wetlands campaign in face of EWA
(CNS): Sustainable Cayman, which became an official registered non-profit organisation just three months ago, has begun a new coordinated campaign to protect the Cayman Islands Central Mangrove Wetlands and raise awareness about the socio-ecological importance of this ecosystem and the threat to it posed by the extension of the East-West Arterial Road (EWA). The activists […]
