Stimulating plans for 3-Bays and new town development – Carrs, Little and Rendezvous bays
Premier Reuben Meade
Following an announcement by the Chief Minister R T Meade, now Premier, The Montserrat Cultural Centre was the venue for a three-day ‘charrette’ that looked at future development plans for the new town in Little Bay, an issue which it is said to have languished ‘like the Constitution’ for the past eleven years, or more. Premier Meade (PM) described the purpose of the charrette as follows: “”…undertaking long-term planning to return the Island to its former glory.”
The Government of Montserrat (GoM), Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC), the Department for International Development (DFID) were hosts of 12 major property developers, architects, marketing specialists and town planners, to look at the proposed vision for Little Bay and to brainstorm on how it can be improved and become more attractive to investors.
Continuing his welcome and introduction, which included a splendid power point presentation of Montserrat, Past & Present, the Premier called it a Phoenix moment. “We recognise the challenges of “playing catch-up” with our neighbours in the Caribbean who now enjoy long-established tourism. But we Montserratians see this as a “Phoenix” moment,” he said.
The visiting professionals combined, reportedly have handle property and marketing portfolios worth more than $8 billion around the Caribbean and Europe. They included St. Lucian-born Walter Zephirin of 7th Heaven Properties which is a leading Caribbean property marketing organisation, listing residential and commercial property and land for sale from across the entire Caribbean region; Royd Smurthwaite of the Ridgeview Group, who has extensive international experience in construction and knowledge of property development; Drusilla Bryan of brandKiss, a tourism marketing firm; and Ripin Kalra, who has a professional background in tropical architecture, master-planning and financial management. He leads London-based IMC Worldwide’s work on sustainable master planning and disaster risk reduction and is a Senior Fellow at the University of Westminster.
These professionals were joined by local participants who at various times and most of the times participated in the deliberations which were conducted in two groups. Among these local participants were H E Governor, the Premier and members of the Legislative Assembly. Others came from among local stakeholders to include private land owners, architects, engineers and those in the construction and property development sector.
DFID Programme Representative Kato Kimbugwe
According to DFID Programme Representative Kato Kimbugwe, who at the end described how the event was perceived and developed, said the purpose of the charrette is three-fold: to develop ideas for the rebranding of Montserrat as an exclusive tourist destination; to revisit the Master Plan for the development of Little Bay as the new capital town and economic centre for the island; and to consider plans for developing a marina at Carr’s Bay.
The charrette
It began on Tuesday with a one hour opening ceremony chaired by Permanent Secretary Development Angela Greenaway. The main speakers were Premier Meade, DFID’s local representative Kato Kimbugwe, John Cox, MVO Director Paul Cole, Drusillla Bryan, (spoke of the rebranding of Montserrat). All laid the foundation for the deliberations and discussions that would follow, with the creation of two groups. These groups following presentations from local and international stakeholders and a look at the impact of Soufriere Hills Volcano gauged potential development plans; private sector financing models and conditions for investment.
After site visits and helicopter tours and intense discussions, the two groups (A&B) on Friday morning presented recommendations on their findings of future development plans for Little Bay. Group A’s Eco-Friendly proposal came with an estimated cost – US$564,000,000 – Group B’s Achievable showed an estimated proposal cost of over US$250,000,000. The details of these may be perused on line on The Montserrat Reporter web and Facebook sites, as well as government’s web and Facebook sites.
Although the upstairs Cultural Centre conference room was packed, there were no questions or comments following the two diverse proposals. One showed the further development of the port at Little Bay and the other a brand new port at Carrs Bay, both showing the breakwater plans that would be required to make these ports viable. There were the attending surrounding developments of hotel’s as well as residential, business and high level tourism amenities. All incorporating the playing field, Cultural Centre, Potato Hill, and entire Carrs Bay area.
See more pictures
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