Anything very recent should also be on the Home Page
I have had to split up these pages, as they were getting very long! Most information on the Virgin Islands Environmental Council's court case against the Developer and The BVI government has been shifted to VIEC
There is also a background article page at this link. Background article VIEC
Link to the Letter to the Editor of the Standpoint Newspaper, Feb 2008 re: Hans Creek by Trish Bailey, Local Environmentalist. Additionally you can find this letter as a word document HERE
Beef Island Golf and Country Club. One of the few golf courses in the world where you can dodge the landing airplanes!
Applied Development Holdings. Another site for The Beef Island Golf and Country Club
Beef Island Deveopment Island Sun article on Beef Island Development
Go to our pictures page to see the latest on Beef Island
Developers Glossy development plan
Applied Developers web site on Beef Island
AP article on the Conservation and Fisheries and ARKBVI Preserving Nature's Secrets documentary
Thursday 13th July, 2006
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) – A documentary commissioned by the British Virgin Islands Conservation and Fisheries Department is critical of a luxury resort and marina project that the government calls vital to the territory’s tourism economy.
In the documentary, biologists and conservation officials say pollution and habitat destruction by the proposed Beef Island Golf & Country Club Resort would damage important marine breeding grounds off an island famed for pristine reefs and mangrove forests.
"We are talking about areas that for over 20 years have been identified as areas that need to be protected," said Bertrand Lettsome, Chief Conservation and Fisheries Officer for the British territory, in the 30–minute documentary obtained by The Associated Press.
Lettsome said his agency commissioned the documentary for educational purposes, but declined to discuss the production until its release, scheduled for August.
The resort, which will reportedly cost more than US$80 million to develop, has prompted strong opposition – a public hearing this month on the issue drew some 300 people, far more than for any other recent issue. The documentary underscores the divisions over the project, even among government officials in the British Caribbean territory.
British Virgin Islands Chief Minister Orlando Smith, the government leader in the territory, signed an agreement approving the project in 2005 although the developer, Quorum Island Ltd., must still secure permits to begin construction in the fall.
Smith has said that the territory needs the resort, including an 18–hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, to compete with other Caribbean destinations for high–end tourists. His administration, however, insists it can be built in an environmentally sensitive way.
"There must be a balance between the environment and development," spokeswoman Sandra Ward said.
Edward Child, director of Smiths Gore Overseas Limited, which manages the property for Quorum, said critics have failed to note that the developers agreed not to remove mangroves – only to trim them when necessary – and to take steps to minimize the runoff of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers from the golf course.
"They put together a very good DVD but it’s obviously one–sided," said Child, one of a handful of people outside the conservation agency who was sent an advance copy of the documentary by Lettsome.
The British Virgin Islands, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Puerto Rico, began transforming Beef Island in 2002 by replacing its one–room airport and the one–lane bridge to nearby Tortola.
The resort would transform what is still a largely uninhabited spit of land. Developers hope to build 200 hotel rooms, rental villas and the golf course on more than 650 acres (260 hectares) by 2009.
But opponents argue this is far too much development for the island and would threaten breeding grounds for fish, lobster and conch.
The documentary, commissioned in partnership with the Association of Reef Keepers, a local environmental group, says construction of the marina would require the dredging of a large pond and the runoff from the golf course would threaten an inlet home to some 62 species of fish.
"In my opinion, there’s no way for that system, the protected area, to survive in its current condition with a golf course where it’s proposed to be," biologist Lianna Jarecki says in the film.
The documentary, produced by U.S.–based Feltsoul Media, also criticizes the British Virgin Islands in more general terms for its handling of environmental issues, faulting authorities for not adequately controlling development or sewage – particularly from cruise ships and charter boats.
"We are friendly people. We are caring people. But we don’t want our island to be destroyed," Naomi Peterson, a local shop owner, says in the DVD. "We want to hold onto it."
All at Sea, April 2007 issue
What will happen to Trellis Bay? By Nan Clendenin
Trellis Bay is one of the most popular anchorages in the BVI. The BVI government has recently approved the construction of an $80 million resort and golf course on Beef Island, making it the largest private development in the territory. This approval was granted despite a series of public meetings over the past months where residents and conservationalists said the construction of a golf course could damage salt ponds, coral reefs and mangroves in the area.
BVI Chief Minister, Dr Orlando Smith previously stated "But let everyone who hears my voice know with certainty; it it is determined that any of these projects cause unacceptable environmental damage, then we will just say no to that project" His newest released statement quotes "I am very pleased to be able to announce that we have reached an agreement with the developers, and government has given its approval for this project to go forward. It was a very tough and lengthy negotiation" The final agreement would reduce planned units by 10 percent or 63 units.
Now both Beef Island and Smugglers Bay are cited for "huge highlevel"tourist resorts. All of the yacht friendly businesses located at Trellis Bay will be greatly affected by this. The BVI of yesteryear, is, sadly, no longer.
