The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

A CABBAGE Beach advocacy group yesterday renewed its demands for full public disclosure of the agreements, surveys and approvals governing public access to the Paradise Island location during and after construction of the $550m Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences.

Dis We Beach told Tribune Business that the developer’s public access obligations raise further questions about how Bahamians will reach and navigate the beach during the project’s 30-month construction and afterwards.

It spoke out after Tribune Business reported that the project’s 2024 Heads of Agreement requires the developer to use “best efforts” to provide Cabbage Beach access to vendors-only through the project site during construction plus establish a permanent 15-foot public right-of-way upon completion.

Dis We Beach said this “underscores why the questions in our petition require complete answers and public disclosure”. The group welcomed the public access commitments but said they must be examined alongside the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), particularly over questions surrounding alternative access routes during construction.

“When the arrangements reported in the article are read alongside the publicly available Environmental Impact Assessment, further questions arise about who can access Cabbage Beach during construction, by which routes, and for how long,” Dis We Beach said.

The group is calling on the Government to publish the signed Heads of Agreement, including its plans and schedules, as well as the approved Environmental Management Plan (EMP), issued certificates of environmental clearance (CECs) and conditions, the approved EIA and any amendments.

Dis We Beach questioned why the public has had to rely on newspaper reporting to learn the terms of an agreement affecting access to one of Paradise Island’s major tourism beaches.

The group also challenged the viability of two alternative access points identified in the Heads of Agreement — the eastern gate of Atlantis and a passage between Ocean Club Beach Estates and Paradise Harbour Club. Dis We Beach said it understood that the passage between the latter two resorts was closed to the public, and said it was unfamiliar with the “eastern gate of Atlantis” referenced in the agreement.

It is demanding that the Government identify the gate on a public map and disclose whether public access is secured through an Atlantis Heads of Agreement, recorded easement or other binding legal instrument. The group said any such instrument should specify permitted users, opening hours, restrictions and protections against future closure.

The Heads of Agreement states that the permanent 15-foot easement on the western boundary of the Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences property will be temporarily closed during construction. It also says the developer and government will work on a “best-efforts” basis to provide access over the project site to Cabbage Beach exclusively for vendors during that period.

Dis We Beach said the Government and developer must identify which route will provide safe alternative public access during construction, verify that it is open and usable, and explain how that access will be protected throughout the works.

The group also said the public access debate must not obscure its concerns over the location of the construction fence and whether any structures occupy Crown Land or the public foreshore.

“An access commitment does not answer those questions,” Dis We Beach said. “The survey, approved works plans and instruments authorising any occupation of Crown Land must be disclosed together.”

The group wants the Government to disclose the verified property boundary, high water mark reference and survey used to determine where the fence was placed, as well as any legal instrument authorising fencing, pilings or other structures on Crown Land. It also stressed that safe access must mean more than simply being able to reach the beach.

“Safe access must include both reaching the beach and moving along it without being forced into the sea to pass a barrier,” Dis We Beach said. It wants the Government to confirm whether the easement has been executed and recorded, its exact route, when it will become available, who can use it and how it will remain binding if ownership of the property changes.

The statement follows a petition launched by Dis We Beach last week amid controversy over repeated attempts to install construction fencing at Cabbage Beach. The petition had attracted 553 verified signatures when the group issued its latest statement.

The group has written to the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP), Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Works, Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority and Department of Lands and Surveys.

It said the correspondence seeks answers and supporting records from each agency according to its respective responsibilities before further beachfront works proceed.

Dis We Beach has also complained to Four Seasons, asking the resort brand to investigate whether the developer’s conduct regarding the fence and public safety is consistent with its published ethical commitments and standards.

“Our position remains clear: Complete answers and supporting documents before another fence is installed, beach renourishment begins, or further works materially alter Cabbage Beach,” the group said. “Advance notice alone is insufficient.”