May 07 - Opposition Questions Sunborn Planning Process
Following the last meeting of the Development and Planning Commission (‘DPC’), the GSD Opposition is concerned at the extent to which the proposed Floating Hotel in the Marina Bay complex appears to be a done deal.
A Shadow Inter-Ministerial Committee made up of Opposition spokesmen for planning, environment and tourism, (Selwyn Figueras, Jaime Netto and Damon Bossino, respectively) has been formed to review all relevant issues being raised with the Opposition in respect of this particular Government project.
The Opposition notes that the matter has recently been listed and discussed in an open meeting of the DPC, (though it was not originally listed as a Government project) and that it appears that the establishment of the floating hotel in Gibraltar is a matter which, in a manner reminiscent of the Government’s handling of Grand Battery, is a foregone conclusion. The Opposition would certainly be surprised if the owner/operator of the vessel had set about deploying the vessel to Gibraltar without any kind of guarantee that its installation here would face a challenge any greater than those of the logistical and infrastructural variety.
The Opposition is therefore asking the Government to confirm whether it has signed any agreements with the owner/operator in respect of the provision of the floating hotel in Gibraltar, whether any agreement whatsoever had been reached with the operators before the planning process had been set in motion in respect of it and, further, the Opposition is asking the Government to confirm whether it has incurred any financial liabilities in this respect. As matters stand, many people are of the view that there is little, if any, prospect whatsoever of this project not going ahead.
The Opposition spokesman for the Environment has also remarked that ‘it is peculiar that no Environmental Impact Assessment is ongoing or even guaranteed in relation to this project, despite an assertion to the contrary in the Government’s own application to the DPC, a copy of which can be found online on the Government’s website. It is all very well for Mr Cortes to dismissively explain that the soil that would need to be dredged is already contaminated, but should he not be concerned to understand what effect this soil disturbance and the project generally could have on two endangered species (the patella limpets and spider crabs) which, wearing an environmentalist’s hat, he has shown concern for in the past?’
Not only are these species listed for protection under the Nature Protection Act, but GONHS has also stated publicly that the area of the Ocean Village Marina is an important spawning ground for sea bass and other fish species which had experienced a decline in other areas around Gibraltar.
Whilst the Opposition is aware that the DPC has opted for an initial screening to determine the type of Environmental Impact Assessment to be followed, the GSD Opposition concurs with the views expressed by the Environmental Safety Group to the effect that, given the scale of the project and its likely impact on the marine environment, as well as the visual impact the presence of such a large vessel in the Marina complex might have, that this application should be subject to the rigours of a full Environmental Impact Assessment. The absence of such an assessment may otherwise lead people to inevitably, and perhaps justifiably, conclude that the deal to bring the Floating Hotel over is, and always has been, a done deal.
In a response released by the Government this afternoon, it was noted that, ' It should be made clear at the outset that what was a done deal for very many years was the planning policy of the GSD Government where meetings were conducted in secret, the agenda was not published, the minutes were not published, objectors had no right to object and where Government projects were not presented or discussed by the Development and Planning Commission at all. In fact, the public and the Town Planning department only found out what was happening when building or demolition works commenced.'
'Secondly, the Opposition have questioned the impact of the proposed floating hotel project on the local hotel industry. This newly found concern is totally inconsistent with what they did in office. When they were in Government they once trumpeted that there were seven hotels in the pipeline and that negotiations were advanced with two of them on the old yacht club site and next to the multi-storey car park in Devil’s Tower Road. They never explained the impact of their policy of seven new hotels on the existing local hotel industry. Moreover, as recently as last year in a meeting of Parliament, the Opposition were still pressing the Government on the status of the new hotel projects that we had inherited from them.
Thirdly, the Sunborn floating hotel went to planning as a Government project because there was an argument to be had as to whether a ship in a marina in Gibraltar needed to go before the Development and Planning Commission at all. The existing use of the site is a marina used for the berthing of vessels. The berthing of a floating hotel, which is a vessel, is not materially different to the berthing of any other large ship. The use of the vessel as a hotel would also not be dissimilar to any other large vessel with its associated servicing, crew movements and occupants. The Government took the policy decision, despite these arguments, that the vessel should go before the Development and Planning Commission in the interests of an open and public process.
Fourthly, this is not the first time that a floating hotel docks in Gibraltar. It will be recalled that under the previous administration a floating hotel was used to provide accommodation for the international IAAF 100km road race. The hotels complained at the time that the then GSD Government had not advised them of their intention to bring and pay for this vessel.
Fifthly, the Sunborn is a privately owned floating hotel project which will be anchored in a private marina which the Government is helping to facilitate at a logistic level because we see the benefit of bringing a £150 million investment to Gibraltar that will result in the creation of over 150 jobs.'
