By Tad Stoner
tad@caymannetnews.com

The Planning Department on Wednesday, 1 October, deferred a decision on Bodden Town developer Lorenzo Berry’s application for an excavation permit to quarry on 44 acres of land at Mahogany Estates.

As proceedings began, Central Planning Authority (CPA) Chairman Dalkeith Bothwell bowed to pressure from Samuel Jackson, attorney for Mr Berry and his son Stafford, and ejected media representatives from the hearings.

“We were not made aware of this. This is a media circus, and we were never consulted,” Mr Jackson said, adding: “We want the standard proceeding,” limited to the applicant and any objectors.

He rejected protests from Mr Bothwell that transparency was consistent with pending Freedom of Information laws, pointing out that such legislation would not take effect until 1 January 2009.

In the hearing at Regatta Park, the CPA listened to a series of objections to the application from residents of both Mahogany Estates and the adjacent Beach Bay development, and from lawyer Murali Ram, acting on behalf of Berry-family litigants seeking to wrest control of family lands from the elder Lorenzo.

Despite Mr Jackson’s subsequent arguments that planning laws prevented the authority from considering the ownership of the land Mr Berry sought to quarry, Mr Ram warned of future legal consequences.

“Who is the owner of this land?” Mr Ram asked, “and is he the proprietary owner or a beneficial owner? If he is simply the administrator of the land, you need to take account of that because it could result in further legal action from the other owners.”

The lawsuit, filed on 24 July by Lorenzo Berry nephews Gary Berry, George Berry, Robert Berry and Wilbur Myles, traces the history of the family estate, beginning in 1911 when Thomas William Berry left between 600 acres and 1,100 acres to his heirs.

In 1982, Lorenzo Berry gained appointment as administrator of the estate, subsequently and unilaterally disposing of a number of parcels of estate property while transferring others into his own name.

Citing Lorenzo Berry as “not a fit person to continue as administrator” the lawsuit seeks recompense for all land sold, a share of the revenues and the ouster of Mr Berry.

While arguing that land ownership was beyond the ambit of CPA deliberations, Mr Jackson also rejected Department of Environment objections regarding the ecological sensitivity of the area, pointing out that the proposed National Conservation Law has not been promulgated.

By press time on Wednesday, the authority had still not rendered a decision on Mr Berry’s permit application, although observers said the safest option for the panel would be to suspend judgement pending the outcome of the lawsuit.