Save Guana Cay Reef Association Ltd v The Queen
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judge | LORD WALKER |
| Judgment Date | 17 November 2009 |
| Neutral Citation | [2009] UKPC 44 |
| Court | Privy Council |
| Docket Number | Appeal No 0013 of 2009 |
| Date | 17 November 2009 |
and others
and others
[2009] UKPC 44
Lord Hope
Lord Scott
Lord Rodger
Lord Walker
Lord Collins
Privy Council
Appellant
Ruth Jordan
(Instructed by Simons Muirhead & Burton)
Respondent
James Dingemans QC
Tom Poole
(Instructed by Charles Russell LLP)
Hugh Small QC
Robert Adam
(Instructed by Latham & Watkins)
Introduction
This appeal is concerned with an attempt to halt a large-scale development of the north-west part of Great Guana Cay ("the Cay"), an island north of Great Abaco on the northern edge of the Bahamas archipelago. In the course of the litigation some additional issues, including an issue as to apparent judicial bias, have arisen.
The Bahamas are known throughout the world for their natural beauty. It is also well known that their rich natural resources, and especially their coral reefs, are at risk from indiscriminate development. There is an admirable explanation of the background to this appeal in the judgment of the Rt Honourable Dame Joan Sawyer, the President of the Court of Appeal, which I gratefully adopt (paras 11 to 13):
"The Bahamas is a country of 701 islands, cays and reefs which stretches in an arc from approximately 58 miles southeast of the east coast of Florida in the United States of America to just north of Hispaniola. It is separated from Florida by the Gulf Stream and from the Greater Antilles by the Old Bahama Channel. None of the islands is mountainous, the highest point being just over 200 ft above sea level, it has no rivers and its natural fresh water reserves consist of 'lenses' of fresh water which sit in the all pervasive salt water that surrounds and sometimes permeates the islands. Geologically, the islands are mainly composed of soft, porous limestone, the centuries-old accumulated result of minute coral. Overall, The Bahamas is approximately the size of the State of California in the United States with the difference that the greater part of this country consists of shallow waters and banks—the Great Bahama Bank and the Little Bahama Bank.
Within the larger archipelago that is The Bahamas, are other smaller archipelagos like Andros, Abaco, Exuma and Ragged Island to name just four. Abaco consists of approximately 265 islands and cays, among which is [the Cay] where the Developers decided to carry out some real estate developments in order to create a special kind of resort.
In most, if not all, of the islands in The Bahamas, there are barrier coral reefs ringing them; parts of those coral reefs, if undisturbed and unpolluted, eventually become islands with their own 'barrier' reefs."
Then after commenting that the Commonwealth of The Bahamas has no comprehensive legislation for environmental protection, or public consultation on the disposition of public land, the President continued (paras 15 and 16):
"The ecology of The Bahamas is said to be 'fragile' and with the concerns regularly mentioned in the national and international press about the 'bleaching' and possible deaths of those reefs due to 'global warming' coupled with environmental degradation which may result from indiscriminate development of the islands, it is quite understandable that thinking persons would be concerned to protect, as far as humanly possible, their environment, not only for themselves, but also for their descendants who may have to inhabit these islands in the future.
Further, it is not unknown for damage to be done to coral reefs by the use of substances like chlorine bleach and other chemicals inimical to the plant life in the waters surrounding such islands which in turn may lead to the eventual destruction of the islands themselves—compare the south sea island that is sinking because the surrounding reef is 'dead'."
The Cay is a long, narrow strip of low-lying land separated from Great Abaco by about ten miles of sea. It is about 1,100 acres in extent, and over half of this area (about 650 acres) is included in the development (which is now about two-thirds complete). 451 acres of this was in private ownership and in May 2003 the developers contracted to purchase it. At the beginning of 2004 (when the planning and negotiation of the development was already under way) the population of the Cay consisted of only 153 full-time residents, 123 of whom were Bahamian. They were mostly engaged in fishing and crabbing. In summer the population was increased by seasonal residents, many of them citizens of the United States.
Most of the full-time population are in the settlement of Guana Cay, situated about half-way along the south side of the Cay. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment ("the EIA", which plays an important part in this case) it had in 2004 about seventeen businesses including two commercial marinas. There was rapid growth of tourism centred at the settlement, and about 450 house lots were for sale both north and south of the settlement. There were some paved roads. There were already pollution problems associated with waste disposal.
Most of the rest of the Cay was still in its natural state, with native vegetation including mangroves in a wetland area. There was however one significant blot on the natural landscape. Disney Corporation had been granted a lease in order to develop a 'Treasure Island' tourist facility on a relatively small part of the site of the new development. Disney Corporation then abandoned this venture without remedying the pollution which it had caused, leaving behind derelict buildings, storage tanks, transformers and contaminated soil. Its development also involved the introduction of some alien and invasive plant species such as Australian pines.
The development site includes a small island (Gumelemi Cay) off the north-west tip of the Cay. Apart from that the development site is very roughly in the shape of an hourglass, with a narrow waist. The wide area to the north is being developed as an 18-hole golf course, surrounded at the seaward edges by home sites and a clubhouse. The wide area to the south has already been developed, to a large extent, by the construction of a marina (excavated where the wetland had been) with moorings, shops, a club and inn, and numerous further home sites. Furthest to the south is an area (including a picturesque creek called Joe's Creek) which is to be preserved in its natural state, and a small beach area to which the general public will have access. The rest of the development is to be private and gated.
For the purpose of local government the Cay has since 1999 formed part of a district named Hope Town District, which comprises the townships of Hope Town, Man-O-War Cay and the Cay. The chairman of the District Council was Mr Walter Sweeting, who resided at Man-O-War Cay. Mr Sweeting wrote a letter dated 28 April 2005 to the Minister of Agriculture, soon after the commencement of the proceedings, which gives a vivid and apparently objective view of the local government position at that time. After referring to the reorganisation in 1999 and the problems which it brought for the Central District he wrote:
"Second, the Hope Town District was established as a Schedule Two District based on the Bahamian population numbers. Under the mandates for a Schedule Two District, the Councillors of this district are unable to appoint Boards, such as Town Planning, Port Authority, Licensing etc, therefore all of the oversight and responsibility for the functions of these Boards falls solely to the seven elected members of the District Council. May we respectfully remind you that the elected members of the District Council, are essentially serving in a volunteer, community service position. They all have full-time employment in addition to their District Council service and often find it difficult to make the time to fulfil all their assigned functions
Third, the Townships of Hope Town, Man-O-War and Great Guana Cay are the fastest growing communities in the country and they are unique in their population demographics. They may be considered small with regard to the number of Bahamians, but in all three cases there are large numbers of foreign property owners. It has been said that they are non-Bahamians and therefore don't count. We must face the fact that they do count and their dollars are the primary fuel for the economy of these cays. Dealing with these foreign property owners and their interaction with the native Bahamian population presents a number of challenges which don't occur to such a degree throughout most of the rest of the country. This foreign segment of our population must be treated with respect and efficiently in a timely manner. If we do not recognise the importance of these people it will have a devastating effect upon the income of our local Bahamians who we are elected to represent.
Now after nearly six years of functioning as its own District, it is apparent that the Hope Town District as it exists today, is simply not working."
The Crown and Treasury lands
The southern end of the development (including, but not limited to, the undeveloped preserve) consists of land which was (and on the appellants' case, ought still to be) in public ownership. According to the agreed statement of facts this consisted of 105 acres of Crown land vested in the Minister Responsible for Lands and Surveys ("the Responsible Minister") and 43 acres of Treasury land vested in the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas ("the Treasurer"). These acreages do not tally precisely either with the acreages in the Heads of Agreement executed on 1 March 2005 ("the Heads of Agreement", another document of crucial importance in this case) or with the acreages in the four leases and one licence eventually granted in July and August 2007 and put in evidence on 28 November 2007 (in each case after the Court...
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