There will be a very important sensitization meeting re: The Greater Treasure Beach Sustainable Development Plan on Wednesday April 6th at 3:30pm at the Sandy Bank Primary School.

This development plan was officially launched at the Black River Parish Council in February. As a key stakeholder and active community person, it is critical that you grace this meeting with your presence.

Please forward this to as many residents as possible

Looking forward to seeing you.

Rebecca will you be there to give those of us who can't come a report.

Residents of
TREASURE BEACH
Come to the
Community MEETING
COME AND BE INFORMED ABOUT THE

GREATER TREASURE BEACH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Date: Wednesday April 6, 2011
Time: 3:30 p.m.
PLACE: SANDY BANK Primary School

Rebecca please help them out.Your presence will be greatly appreciated as it always is.

did anyone go?

I attended, I was encouraged, and I have been exceedingly busy in the last few days. I hope to give you a full report tomorrow.

Sorry for the delay.

The meeting started with a prayer offered by Mrs. V. Parchment.

The Welcome and opening remarks were made by Jason Henzell. He said this is a participatory plan which will take approximately 3 years. It will include planners holding workshops on zoning, density, water supply, sewage supply, maps, spatial planning, etc.

He said the question asked of all of us is, "What do you want for Treasure Beach in 30 years?"

Mr. Henzell stated he is the chairman of the Parish Development Committee which was awarded $268,000 Canadian dollars for this project.

He said the study area includes The Great Pedro Bluff to Ft. Charles, Black River and the lower morass. Part of this plan is to establish two fishing sanctuaries.

He would like to see Treasure Beach be a model for low density sustainable development. He further stated if we don't have a plan you are vunerable. The current law states you can have 30 rooms per acre. He sees this as an opportunity for us to grow a niche market of community tourism which will attract a conscious community and environmentally responsible client.

He stated we have laborious hours of leaning and being trained ahead of us. He has developed a greater appreciation for the work the planners are putting in to this since his involvement.

One comment from an attendee was that the citizens of the community must come first in any plan.

Phil Rodriguez, Canadian Urban Institute, then came up and spoke with us. He stated he was looking forward to assisting us with the establishment and implementation of this plan. He said we should look at this as one parish and one overall vision for the parish with Treasure Beach and Black River being microcosims of this vision. He has grown to love Treasure Beach and does not want to see it become another Negril. (This statement brought applause from everyone.)

Mayor Palmer then came up. He said this plan sets out goals and a framework of how these goals can be achieved. He also wanted to make note that the National Housing Trust has put in 12 million JA into this plan and married with GTBSDPSM for this project to embrace it. He said Bluntuss, Beacon, Newcombe Valley, Barbary Hall and all the way to Black River will be included in this plan. He wants to stop the process of people building what they want wherever and when ever they want.

He made note that part of this plan will have a drainage plan and that priority is to lay down a proper road from Treasure Beach through Ft. Charles and to increase the water supply to the area. He said he calls this the Jamaica Infrastructure Development Program. You cannot develop tourism without proper infrastructure. He announced a new water line being put in place from Hunslow to Bethany and Newcombe Valley.

Jason then made a comment to say ponds need to be protected. Natural ponds should not be filled in.

A question was, "Who should we call when we see a pond being filled in?"

The mayor answered to say they have plans to develop a website where people can write in to. He said there are lots of young people on this program and he is looking forward to better communication due to their technical expertise.

There was a discussion regarding walls. A comment from an attendee was enforcement of the law is key or we are all wasting our time. It was explained by a member of the committee that they are instituting a better way to report a complaint. This new method would streamline the complaints and allow follow-up by the Parish Council to become more efficient. It was stated there is certainly a problem with reporting issues and making complaints now. The committee member said the spatial visioning workshop would be a great place to establish wall ordinances and that we, as the community, can decide what that should be. He said this is one of the benefits to working on this plan.

Mr. Jones then gave us the presentation of the overview of the Development Plan. I took photos of each slide so check out the photos for full details of the overview.

After this Ms. Britton gave a presentation for Disaster Preparedness which again, you can follow along with the photos.

The wrap up of the meeting included TB.Net officially inviting the committee to use TB.Net for one avenue of communicating with the community including the community members and stakeholders living abroad. We are very happy to note they have taken us up on this offer.

Another question brought up was what was happening at Font Hill regarding development. Jason Henzell stated they are looking into finding a reputable company to get a density study done to see what is the best way for Font Hill to be developed while preserving the flora and fauna. He said the Nature Conservancy has agreed to come on board with this project. He was very excited about this as we need to be aware of the importance of ecotourism.

Mr. Blake gave the closing remarks. He said there is so much potential for this area but if we do not guide this potential and growth we could have another Montego Bay. Key issues are water, drainage, walls, squatters and much more. He said we, the citizens, will guide this project. There will be a citizens advisory committee to discuss these issues. He is looking forward to working with all of us.

My personal take - I was very encouraged to see all the young folks on this committee. I could feel the energy they have for this project and that made me feel confident. I look foward to lots of communication coming from them and with the lines of communication open I think great things can be accomplished.

You can view photos of the meeting here or by the link in the Photo Gallery.

Thanks Rebecca for this time consuming update.
Preservation is the key to any developing at all. Once gone, it is usually gone forever. I like the awareness of not filling in ponds. They support much wildlife. Hopefully they will check the website they are creating on a daily basis! The day they don't check will be the day there is an important message. I am glad Jason Henzell seems to make the fauna and flora a priority. What remains to be seen is if this will really happen as stated..

To my treasure beach friends: This sounds like an opportunity to make Treasure Beach a community tourism showcase. That will benefit residents and visitors alike and will preserve whats best. It's an opportunity that can, unfortunately, be lost to selfish interests and those for whom short-term profits are more important than the humans who must earn it. It will take hard work and long term committment by all community stakeholders. I wish you luck and success. I will support growth consistent with community tourism and improving the quality of life for all of Treasure Beach by being a respectful and generous visitor.

"A steering commitee was formed which represents the interests of critical stakeholders who will be impacted by the objectives of the project".

Who represents the interests of the 'non critical' stakeholders?

Who are the critical stakeholders?

A team with bankers, social scientists, politicians and urban planners. Where are the ecologists or biologists? Is the focus sustainable money and token attention to the environment? Best be clear from the git go.

The earthquake information provided in the presentation is well intentioned but outmoded. Taking cover UNDER something such as a table as illustrated will almost certainly result in serious injury or death. The correct way to protect yourself is to get on the floor directly next to BUT NOT UNDER something such as a bed. When things fall there will be a "safety triangle" formed, and the person should be safe.

Actually, there was much discussion about this and the Red Cross' official stance is to take cover UNDER something. The other theory of getting next to something has not been proven to the Red Cross' satisfation to be the better way. They only suggest this if you cannot get under anything.

I do not understand something and would like it to be explained. You said Mr. Henzell would like to see Treasure Beach be a model for low density sustainable development. He further stated if we don't have a plan you are vunerable. The current law states you can have 30 rooms per acre. He sees this as an opportunity for us to grow a niche market of community tourism which will attract a conscious community and environmentally responsible client.

Does this mean Mr. Henzell does not want to see more than 30 rooms per acre, or he thinks that is the correct amount and does not want it increased or he would like to see less than 30 rooms per acre for future development.

Thanks for the notes Rebecca. Sounds most hopeful. One thing the people of TB should consider is this: what happens in the meantime, while the plan is being developed? If it's going to take years, then there needs to be some kind of interim plan - or many things will disappear before the plan is completed.

Also, I am not optimistic that a website is a good way to report problems. We need good regulatory bodies - both at Parish and National levels. There is just no way around this.

Diana from JET

Starting the journey with the first step 30 Rooms.

What is the effect of one person in one room on on one acre? I'm sure the current limits have been defined after many man hours of discourse. Here is a good place to continue this examination. The context has changed.

The real projected balance sheet must reflect the valuation of the expected externalities. Biologists and accountants have to start talking.

The real concernd parties here are our grandchildren and beyond. We act on their behalf.

about the 30 rooms thing ... i would imagine places such as treasure beach hotel, jakes, taino cove and sunset are in that category. places such as that should clearly be "grandfathered". we need to be very careful regarding future development. what if the kennedys with their 5+ acres at rainbow tree had 150 rooms? i know they value beauty and the environment so they wouldn't do that. but they could. what if some of the larger parcels of 8+ acres in ft charles were developed? can you imagine 240 rooms on one piece of land? that's enough for an all inclusive.

we can't seem to monitor aesthetics. some days i think people got as much free concrete as they could to build some of the big places on the hills. i know its a matter of taste and all of us see things through different eyes.