The Tribune

BY ANNELIA NIXON

TRIBUNE Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

CABBAGE Beach vendors are seeking $100,000 each in relocation funding with a $300 monthly stipend for 30 months, plus legal representation, with talks over their temporary removal yesterday said to be deadlocked.

The 27 remaining vendors, all of whom the Dis We Beach advocacy group said hold valid Business Licences to operate on Cabbage Beach, have been given until April 2007 to reach an agreement over their proposed relocation, it said.

However, vendors are asserting they have yet to receive a clear indication of how much funding the Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences developer is willing to provide, while there is still no written agreement guaranteeing their return to Cabbage Beach once the $550m project’s construction has been completed.

Dis We Beach said recent removal of the construction fence has eased immediate tensions, but accused the Government of failing to adequately represent the vendors in negotiations over their livelihoods.

“The fence has gone down, so everybody’s breathing a little easier,” it said. “But they seem to be taking those final 27 vendors that are on Cabbage Beach and railroading them. All of them have Business Licences.” 

The vendors have reportedly been asked to provide a figure for what they would require to relocate, but Dis We Beach said they have not been told what the developer is willing to pay. “They are also not getting anything in black and white,” the group said. “But they’re told that in 30 months they can come back.”

Tribune Business understands that the fence, which sparked last week’s controversy, was only to remain in place for three weeks to allow the Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences developers to use a specific piece of machinery for sheet piling work. Its erection was designed to preserve the safety of both Cabbage Beach vendors, their customes and other beach goers.

This newspaper also understands that the project’s construction has received all necessary approvals, including environmental and town planning, to allow work to proceed. The developers - Access Industries, the existing Ocean Club’s owner, Florida-based real estate developer, Two Roads Development, and the high-end Four Seasons resort brand - removed the fence as a good faith gesture and to ease tensions.

Well-placed sources have confirmed the developers have also offered support to the Cabbage Beach vendors even though there is nothing in the project’s Heads of Agreement that obligates them to provide compensation or relocation. It is also understood that they proposed two different construction-related solutions to the Government before the fence was put up, but these were turned down.

Tribune Business reported in September 2024 how the Ocean Club Residences environmental impact assessment (EIA) pledged that “beach access will be provided during construction” that is expected to take three-and-a-half years.

The developers and their contractors plan to employ shipping containers to create “safe passage” through the construction site during a 19-month period in the middle of the build-out so that vendors can continue in business. And, while beach access will be “managed” during the final six months of construction, the developers also plan to build “permanent kiosks” for vendors along the beach access route.

However, the vendors yesterday said the dispute is not simply about moving location but protecting established businesses whose customer bases have been built around Cabbage Beach. Alexis Lloyd, who has operated on Cabbage Beach for 26 years, said vendors agreed in principle to a temporary relocation but want legally enforceable assurances before leaving.

“They want put us on Cable Beach,” he said. “We don’t mind getting relocated temporarily once we have a written agreement. We could come back to the beach after the 30 months.” Mr Lloyd said vendors have proposed compensation figures but have been told their demands are too high.

“They ain’t letting us know how much money the investors want to give us,” he said. “Every time we say a price, they keep telling us that’s too much, like they [the Government] ain’t representing us.” 

Mr Lloyd said the vendors are now seeking legal representation to negotiate on their behalf. “They saying they still have to close the beach, so they would try see how much they can compensate us,” he said. “We’re going to get a lawyer to deal with that part right there because that’s too much a headache for us.”

Mr Lloyd said the money is intended to cushion vendors against the commercial risks of being moved to an unfamiliar market. “It’s too keep us afloat because we’re moving in a new environment, and we don’t know how our business could be there, and it could take us a while to build clientele there,” he said.

The uncertainty comes after the fencing dispute triggered intervention from the Government and the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP). The fence was ultimately removed following concerns it could restrict public access and interfere with the businesses of vendors and water sports operators.

The Ministry of Tourism said the removal would allow discussions between the developer, government agencies and affected vendors to continue, including how vendors could be accommodated while environmental concerns such as beach erosion were addressed.

The Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences has affirmed on its website that vendor access would initially be maintained along the eastern boundary of the site once construction begins, before access returns to the western boundary as the project progresses.

Once construction is completed, Cabbage Beach would remain open to the public through a 15-foot-wide graded and landscaped access path. The upgraded access route would be lined with vendor facilities, with kiosks to be leased to approved vendors for a nominal $1 per month and existing ones given preference. The developer also proposed specialised training programmes for vendors to help them meet the service standards associated with the Four Seasons brand.

However, Dis We Beach said the key issue is whether those commitments will be legally guaranteed. “We would like some answers,” the group said. “How is Cabbage Beach governed? If these vendors were promised almost a year ago that they could use other entrances, and the same company has closed down those entrances, where are the guarantees?”

The group also questioned whether the Government intends to allow Cabbage Beach to be closed during construction and called for clarity on how public access will be protected. “Tell us up front exactly what you plan on doing, and how is that even possible? From a Dis We Beach side, we are very concerned,” it said.

Mr Lloyd said the vendors are prepared to move temporarily if terms are clear, but warned that without an agreement, the relocation process could become confrontational.

“As soon as we come up with an agreement,” he said, when asked when vendors would have to relocate. “So, I guess if we don’t want to relocate, if we never come up with an agreement, we’ll never relocate. They probably just going to charge us with trespassing on our own Bahamian beach.”

The Ministry of Tourism has previously pledged “zero tolerance” for the economic displacement of Bahamians whose livelihoods depend on tourism, and stressed that environmental protection and economic opportunity must co-exist. For the vendors, however, the issue is whether those assurances will translate into enforceable financial and access arrangements before they are asked to move.

“They want $100,000 for each vendor, and they want $300 every month for stipend pay for the next 30 months until they finish [construction],” Mr Lloyd said. Tribune Business did not hear back from the Ministry of Tourism before press time.