More mangroves illegally cleared – Cayman Islands Headline News – Cayman News Service

(CNS): Despite continued calls from the Department of Environment to stop the clearance of mangroves on sites without planning permission, developers are still ripping up these critical species. The Central Planning Authority considered an application for after-the-fact land clearance in Prospect on Wednesday, after a developer removed several acres of mangroves, which were part of an important drainage system, in order to dump soil and store materials to support a nearby condominium development.

Developers behind the Grand Palmyra, a luxury condo development project in the Grand Harbour area, simply removed the partially seasonally flooded mangroves on Block 23C Parcel 233, land which has no planning application history or permissions for development of any kind.

The DoE discovered the latest assault on these critical species during a site visit to the area in late January. Researchers found that the mangroves had been cleared from the interior of the site, using access off the former Prospect Point Road and out of view from the more public Hurley Merren Boulevard.

Not all of the mangroves have been removed and the DoE has insisted that those that remain must be retained. But the clearance was done in such a way that it appears the developer was hoping it would not be seen. Whether that is so the materials expected to be stored there as well as piles of soil would not cause complaints or because the developer was hoping no one would notice is an unanswered question.

However, regardless of the motivations of the developer, the DoE made it clear that this practice has to stop.

This continues the extremely worrying trend of illegally clearing mangroves which the Department of Environment has raised to the Department of Planning on a number of occasions, the department stated in its submissions to the Central Planning Authority, highlighting another seven recent cases of mangrove clearance without any planning permission.

The DoE explained that the missing mangroves at this site had provided critical drainage for the surrounding area and an extremely important buffer for Hurley Merren Boulevard from the sea. They said there was a lot more vacant land in the area that could have been used for storage, as they noted the lack of any consideration for stormwater management on the site, which has now been cleared and filled.

Illegal clearing removes the opportunity for reviewing agencies to provide constructive comments and feedback on best management practices and recommendations for retention of ecologically valuable flora to be retained, which may prove beneficial to the landowners and wider area. In this case, the mangroves provide important drainage for the area. Illegal clearing undermines the consultation process and the planning process, the DoE said.

Once again, the DoE experts urged the planning department to take appropriate measures to avoid illegal clearing, adding that its environment conservation officers cannot intervene in these cases until the Species Conservation Plan for Mangroves has been approved by Cabinet, which has still not been done, leaving this important plant increasingly vulnerable.

We recommend refusal of this application, the DoE told planning. Clearing and filling important drainage areas prior to any imminent development is not a practical approach to stormwater management.

The developers request to planning for after-the-fact permission was brief, giving no indication that the developers had grasped the negative significance of removing the mangroves.

The application for the land clearing on the parcel was intended for the material storage and dump area of the dug-out soil from the construction of Grand Palmyra Development located on Block 22E Parcel 382 which was owned by the same developer, K&B Ltd stated in the application. The land clearing will also be done in purpose for the preparation of the future mixed use development to be built on the lot. We hope that the CPA board would find this application to be acceptable.

The limited justification given to the CPA may be because no sanctions have been given to other developers who unlawfully remove mangroves and undermine the Cayman Islands already limited coastal defences.

See this and all of the other planning applications considered by the CPA on Wednesday in the CNS Library (scroll down to Grand Palmyra development)

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More mangroves illegally cleared - Cayman Islands Headline News - Cayman News Service