During last week’s National Conservation Council (NCC) meeting, which fell on the same day that Gibb presented his client’s hotel proposal to the CPA, National Trust Executive Director Nadia Hardie, who sits on the NCC, asked the DoE to follow up on the planning department’s response to the recommendations for the project that had been made through the council.

This raised questions in the public domain about the potential conflict for Gibb, since the Trust is essentially opposed to the hotel plan, which is on a sea turtle nesting site, and involves construction on the beach, variances of set-backs and other major environmental risks.

Hardie said that Gibb, who chairs the 17-member council, does not have the exclusive right to make decisions on behalf of the Trust.

“While Andrew Gibb is one of the architects acting on behalf of the developers of the proposed Beach Bay resort, his professional capacity does not have any bearing on the Trust’s position to challenge proposed developments on environmentally-sensitive land, as demonstrated by my comments at the National Conservation Council’s general meeting,” Hardie said in a statement. She added, “The Trust is in no way swayed or conflicted by Gibb’s involvement in the project.”

Hardie noted that Trust members are volunteers and many have other personal and professional commitments, but that it operates on the basis of good governance and transparency, and members must declare conflicts at all meetings and recuse themselves when they arise. She said it was “unrealistic to assume or believe” that conflicts of interest would never arise, which is why members must declare them.

“We are often faced with addressing the ever-increasing and delicate balance between future development and conservation. While some may view Gibb’s professional vocation as a direct conflict of interest with the Trust’s mandate, his expert knowledge of the often-complex Planning Laws has been incalculably valuable and has allowed the Trust on many occasions to best respond, object and present recommendations to the CPA regarding proposed developments within our purview,” she added.

She noted that in the case of the Beach Bay development, the Trust has no right to object because it does not own any of the adjacent land impacted.

“We can’t object in our capacity as the National Trust but we can, and will, push the Central Planning Authority to take into consideration the recommendations put through the NCC,” Hardie said. “Unfortunately, that’s all we can do, and to reassure the public that the Trust will review critically any development regardless of who is involved.”

The Beach Bay project has become very controversial due to its scale and the environmental threats it poses. Dozens of residents in the area have submitted written concerns and many of them turned up to the meeting last week. While the project has been deferred to allow the developer to reconsider some of the details, the project has not yet been refused.