Campaign to preserve historic sand road in LC
(CNS): UPDATED: More than 200 people have so far signed a petition to ask government not to pave the picturesque sand road that runs through Blossom Village in Little Cayman. The signatures include Jack Ebanks (aged 91), who has lived along the road all his life, and his wife Reilly (aged 92), as well as Sister Islands MLA Moses Kirkconnell. A blog with an online poll to gauge public opinion on the issue has also been created, and the results as of Thursday are 2 votes in favour of paving the road and 105 against.
Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie has said that after she emailed the Ministry with responsibility for District Administration expressing the DoE’s views on the project and outlining the public’s concerns, the ministry responded to her saying that given the concerns expressed by the DoE and the public, the project has been postponed pending a more detailed review.
“The DoE’s position is that we would not wish to see this road paved for the same reason we chose not to pave the parking lot of the recently constructed DoE building on Little Cayman (which is also in Blossom Village), which is that the road, like our parking lot, is within the extended beach ridge system and should therefore not be covered over with an impervious surface which has the potential to significantly alter the drainage characteristics of such areas," Ebanks-Petrie said. "We also believe that the public’s concerns over the potential speed limit increase and the aesthetic impact on Blossom Village are legitimate.”
Ebanks’ niece, Elsie Kynes, and her husband, the artist known as “Foots”, launched the campaign on Monday, 23 February, when they found out that Public Works Department on Little Cayman was set to start work on paving the road.
Kynes grew up on Little Cayman and owns property in Blossom Village that has been in her family for more than half a century. In fact, her father Baroot Ebanks, was born on Little Cayman in 1919 and is buried in Blossom Village Cemetery alongside his mother, Isadora Ebanks. She told CNS that the road would lose its charm if it was paved. “It would be totally different,” she said. “It should be left alone and preserved for tourism.”
Local photographer David Wolfe, who started the Blossom Village Road blog, said he thought it was an important enough issue to fight for. “I believe the Blossom Village Road is a unique place in the Cayman Islands, the only place that remains where people can go and see what all of the Cayman Islands looked like at one time,” he said. Furthermore, he believes that traffic through the village would speed up considerably once the road was paved.
Wolfe, who has a part-time residence in the village, said he and his wife and children can go barefoot from their property to the park along Blossom Village Road and can walk all the way to the airport along the sand. He said he started the blog because he felt it was worth at least finding out how people felt about it. The poll will not accept more than one vote from any computer and is therefore a reasonable reflection of public opinion, he believes.
Foots said that the ultimate goal of the campaign is not just to halt current plans to pave the road, but to have the preservation of the road enshrined in law.
CNS was unable to contact Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts, who is also Minister for District Administration, to get the ministry’s current position on paving the road in light of the campaign aginst it since he is in Washington, DC, on official business. However, a spokesperson from the ministry said they would be able to provide a comment from him once he returns.
Little Cayman has a population of only a few hundred, and the majority of its residents are either second-home owners or work in the tourism industry, which is heavily geared towards diving and eco-tourism.
Anyone wishing to sign the petition or to collect signatures can call Foots at 925-0904 or email bettyboo@candw.ky or footscaymanbrac@yahoo.com
Category: Headline News
Protect Little Cayman from greedy developers
Stop the paving
Stop the proposed paved jet runway
Protect Little Cayman from the runious Government…
This is a stupid idea!
Leave the roads as they are. Tourist are traveling halfway around the world for such an untouched beauty and as long as the people living there are not asking for it..it should not be done.
Let’s spend that money getting Caymanians out of the trailers and into their homes instead.
The Caymanian Government has had the wisdom to designate Little Cayman for ecotourism in its long-range plans. Development will obviously spoil the charm and natural resources that make Little Cayman unique and attractive. It is easy to see that leaving historical areas as they are will only add another resource to draw tourists to the island. There is no need to pave the road through Blossom Village — it doesn’t get much traffic and nobody drives at high speeds (nor should they). Let’s take the money that was set aside for paving the road through Blossom Village and do something that is urgently needed with it! Those of us who live on Little Cayman do so precisely BECAUSE it is unspoiled and undeveloped — because the beaches are not full of trash, the reefs are not dying, the birds and animals and vegetation are cherished and protected, and the Caymanian generosity and friendliness are everywhere shown.
It shows that the people in goverment have NO VISION. Little cayman should be preserved and promoted as is. This is what people want to experience, not another miami beach like what 7 mile has become.When they come to Grand Cayman all you can hear is, this looks like Miami beach, or I thought it would be more islandy. That should tell people something.
I say Leave Little Cayman alone and promote it as the truly last piece of paradise in the western hemisphere. Promotions of the the old name Cayman used to have "the Island that time forgot". We got thousands of tourist with that slogan.
Promote day trips to Little Cayman and the Brac as part of a package to thos visiting Grand Cayman. Vision People, Vision, and LEAVE LITTLE CAYMAN ALONE!!
Definitely shows you the lack ofsense that our wonderful government has I tell you. They either destroyed or covered up nearly all of our history here in Cayman already and now they want to ruin it for Little Cayman as well. They must have total s#$t for brains, sorry!
Can the petition be located and signed online?
If so I would be happy to sign it. If not the creators may want to consider doing so.
Sigh!!!
PLEASE LEAVE THE ROAD AS IT IS!!!!!!!!!!
Half the fun of going to places like Little Cayman is the very fact of being able to see things as they were. Even the aiport should be left as it is – it is an ADVENTURE these days, to land on a grass strip!!! DON’T CHANGE ANYTHING PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!!
Why are they bothering to even think about paving a beautiful white sand road on Little cayman when really what we need on the sister islands is better roads on the Brac! The roads on the Brac are so bad that even new vehicles drive like crap! All residents on the Brac are so amazed of the difference when we go to Grand Cayman and feel the nice smooth roads. Please, if we can dish out so much money on other petty things we should really consider the roads on the Brac, before things get so bad that we wont be able to afford it ever!.
WHy don’t they focus on re-paving destroyed roads from Paloma or from the constant tearing up of the roads rather than ruining a piece of paradise!!
It’s common sense people!! Wake Up!
Driving in Cayman Brac is like going through the middle of the Bog. I’m surprised my baby doesn’t have whip lash from all the jostling when I am driving. Please fix the roads here instead.