Plan to use the national park as a training base for sailing – The Royal Gazette

Created: Dec 11, 2018 2021 08:53 AM

Harrington Sound Park (Photo provided)

A sailing training organization has applied for permission to set up in a government-owned park.

USail said he wanted to build a storage shed and portable toilets at Harrington Sound Park in Hamilton Parish, which he planned to use as a base for navigating the sound.

The application proposed an 8-by-20-foot storage shed near the eastern edge of the park and two stand-alone portable toilets that would be served by USail.

The storage shed would also include a water catchment, with rainwater being stored in tanks at the rear of the building.

A planning request, submitted last month by Adwick Planning on behalf of the nonprofit USail, said: “The company is focusing specifically on the return of sailing to Harrington Sound.

“Harrington Sound has always been used as a safe and protected sailing training place by Bermuda’s best sailors.

“USail aims to once again bring back the tradition of sailing in this closed body of water. Harrington Sound Park provides an ideal base to achieve this goal. ”

The app said the group had previously used the park to launch rubber dinghies and stored the boats across Harrington Sound Road.

The applicants write: “Unfortunately, the company did not realize that an urban planning permit was necessary for the operation of storing the annexes and, informed of this, this activity was discontinued.

“In order to overcome the difficulties encountered previously, the company is now proposing to establish its operation entirely within the boundaries of Harrington Sound Park, with the permission of the National Parks Commission.

“The intention will be to have a low-impact, low-impact operation in the park – Harrington Sound Park is a ‘pleasure’ park and the activities offered by USail will be complementary to the educational, social and recreational objectives of the park.”

The request added: “Some removal of invasive plant species will likely be required to accommodate the infrastructure of the sailing center, but replacement planting using native and endemic species will be undertaken which will improve the quality of the vegetation in the area. park and improve the filtering of the installation.

“The proximity of the sailing center to the eastern boundary will have little or no impact on the adjacent property which is densely vegetated and zoned as a coastal reserve.”

The request elicited only one objection from The Best Settlement, which pointed out what it claimed was a lack of “critical information” about the proposal.

The objection letter, submitted by CTX Design Group, stated: “Despite the obvious aesthetic concerns, our client strongly opposes the principle of using this park for the location of an 8ft by 20ft shipping container. feet, some portaloos and above ground water storage tanks. , but without any drawing detailing the location, appearance and mass, it is impossible to provide a thoughtful and reasoned position.

“A search of the online submission does not show any drawings detailing the critical information necessary for a thorough assessment and we postulate that the submission should never have been saved as an application without this important detail.

“Further, the authorization letter is signed by the applicant, not by the landowner, and without this critical consent, should not be allowed to be processed by the planning system.”

The objection added that the claimant said the National Parks Commission supported the plan, but no evidence was included in the online submission.