(CNS): Work is underway, officials have said, on a government project to create over 50 affordable lots on crown land in East End which was supposed to have been finished before the end of last year. The work on 20 acres of government owned land off Austin Connolly Drive close to the Light House Park involves the construction of roads and storm water management. Under the ministry of lands and public works the site is now a construction zone with trucks and other heavy vehicles entering and exiting until the end of the year, officials are warning drivers.
The project received planning permission last April and was due to have been finished almost one year ago. Officials have not yet said when the site will be ready for the lots to be sold or what the criteria for purchase will be, now that the work is underway. Its understood however that the lots will be sold at cost to Caymanian independent developers or individuals who want to build their own homes.
While the project has been fuelled by the desperate need for affordable housing for local people to build it has not been without its controversy. There were a number of environmental concerns about the primary and rare habitat that will be lost as the land is cleared but these were all dismissed at the time of planning application in favour of the government policy to make land available for building.
Part of the site had been under consideration by the National Conservation Council to become a protected habitat because it is not only ecologically important it is also geological interesting. Dubbed as a potential ‘Hell East’ because of the unique rocky, dry forest landscape the idea of a new tourist attraction had been floated. But suggestions by the department of environment to alter the plans to keep the ‘Hell’ like area as a central feature and subdivide the land around it were dismissed by the Central Planning Authority which cited government policy at the time.
According to the original application the long term plans also included other community features in particular a new old folks home to replace Sunrise Cottage the former elderly residential facility that was closed in 2019 that was on part of the site.
As the project moves ahead work on well-drilling may also cause water to flow onto nearby roadways, creating potential hazards that could be worsened by increased rainfall. Traffic management measures, including signs, are in place to protect drivers. Road users are urged to exercise extra caution during this period.
