EDITORIAL

Planning changes good for business

Monday, March 7, 2005

The recently announced amendments to the Planning Law and the Building Code should be applauded as a welcome move towards alleviating some of the bureaucratic burdens inherent in the planning and construction process for new and rebuilt properties.

This should accordingly benefit the reconstruction and recovery process, leading to even more activity in the relevant business sectors.

Some of these changes, such as the amended definition of what constitutes an unsafe structure and the procedure for notifying property owners accordingly, are common sense measures which have largely only now become necessary following the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan.

The reduction in infrastructure fees is welcome and we trust that the Central Planning Authority will err on the side of generosity in granting such relief, especially in the light of the many complaints we have received about inconsistencies in the administration of the recovery fund itself and the financial assistance that is supposed to be available to Cayman residents from that source.

It would be a pity if this were to turn out to be yet another bone of contention, especially as the reduction is only 50 percent, in common with the reduction in import duties on recovery materials and equipment.

The various changes that allow a quicker turnaround in the whole planning, notification and construction process are especially welcome. This will allow contractors to complete the necessary work and move on to the next project in the minimum time, which is doubly important in the present environment when qualified contractors and tradesmen of every description are in great demand.

Concurrently with the legislative changes, the Director of Planning, Kenneth Ebanks, has also been actively disseminating some useful information and advice in relation to the planning process, which residents would do well to note.

Chief amongst this is the requirement for inspections of building damaged by the hurricane, even if the rebuilding itself is of such a limited extent that planning permission is not required. Again, this is plain common sense. Just because we experienced a major hurricane in 2004 does not mean that we won’t get another one in 2005 or later years.

Many of the problems experienced in Grenada following Hurricane Ivan were associated with sub-standard construction and the absence of an adequate building code.

It is therefore important that steps are taken to ensure that we do not let our guard down here in the Cayman Islands by failing to rebuild to a higher or, at the very least, equivalent standard. This makes sense not only from an economic point of view but also from personal safety considerations.

Some, at least, of the preliminary structural integrity inspections are offered free of charge by the Planning Department and residents should therefore take full advantage of this.

The Planning Director has also indicated that turnaround time on routine residential planning applications is no more than five working days, which is another factor that is extremely helpful in getting the reconstruction and recovery ball rolling in the shortest possible time.

In addition, inspections should be completed within three days from the time they are requested, which seems to us to be an acceptable timeframe, but relies on the contractor or tradesman requesting such inspections in a timely manner, rather than waiting down until the last minute and expecting the building inspectors to jump when called upon.

It seems to us that the Government in general and the Planning Department in particular are doing their part in this specific area. Caymanian residents and business people should accordingly take advantage of this climate of cooperation.

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