Residents at a town hall meeting last night unanimously rejected Atlantis' plans to establish a seaplane operation in Montagu Bay, leading to Acting Port Controller Berne Wright declaring at the event that the Paradise Island resort will have to go back to the drawing board and find a new location for the operation.
"Stevie Wonder could see what's happening here," said Wright toward the end of the meeting, acknowledging the strong opposition to the project.
Despite inclement weather, there was a strong showing from members of the local sailing community and residents who live along the eastern end of New Providence and elsewhere on the island.
Those in attendance found it appalling that the plan for Montagu Bay was even being considered given that this year — the 50th year of the nation's independence — Parliament declared sailing the national sport of The Bahamas.
In a July 31, 2023 letter addressed to Wright and Director General of Civil Aviation Alexander Ferguson, Vaughn Roberts, Atlantis' senior vice president of government affairs and special projects, said the resort settled on a program of domestic seaplane arrivals and departures in Montagu Bay with passenger transfers via a floating platform to a ferry boat.
The plan is for the ferry boat to transport passengers between the floating platform and an existing dock at the Atlantis Marina.
The floating platform would be positioned in Montagu Bay for passenger embarkation/debarkation.
The proposed schedule of flights include the Swimming Pigs Seaplane Tour to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, and the Kamalame Cay Excursion.
Roberts wrote, "As demand increases, we will look to expand the number of flights and excursion destinations within The Bahamas. We also anticipate a number [of] charter flights based on demand."
In addition to Atlantis, project partners are Coco Bahama Seaplanes (seaplane operator); Exclusive Tours (tour operator and booking agent) and Pieces of 8 (ferry and safety boat operator).
Strong objections
The residents gathered last night insisted the operation would decimate sailing operations in Montagu Bay.
Among those at the meeting was Charlotte Albury, daughter of legendary Bahamian sailor the late Sir Durward Knowles.
Albury said her father would have been totally against what Atlantis is proposing in Montagu Bay.
"He would be appalled to even think that this would even be entertained, that they would take away Montagu Bay, not only for sailing — which he sailed since he was a young child and he lived to be 100, so he had many, many years of sailing under his belt — but to think that all the people now enjoying the beach, enjoying the camaraderie, now when they have regattas, just the whole Bahamian experience and people coming together as one, and we know the state the country is in, the mess that the youngsters are getting into, and this just gives them something to look forward to and to build team spirit which is so important in sailing," she told The Nassau Guardian not long after she strongly voiced her objections in the hall.
"He always said, it doesn't matter if you lose the race; it's the friends you meet along the way that make all the difference, so, as I said tonight, with the rumbling of the thunder, to me that was him saying 'don't mess with sailing; leave it alone'."
Dwayne Higgins, a member of the National Sailing Commission and vice commodore of the National Sailing Association, said any obstruction in Montagu Bay "takes sailing completely away from us".
"So for me, as a citizen of this country, I appreciate tourism. I know its value to this country; however, The Bahamas still at some point needs to be for Bahamians," said Higgins, eliciting applause from the crowd.
Hugh Buckner, an area resident and sailing enthusiast, said, "In opposing this, the reason [is not being] against the seaplanes per se, but the landing area.
"This landing area is right in the middle of Bahamian sailing. This is ground zero for Bahamian sailing and if you go and operate there at the times you're going to operate, you're going to be landing right in the place [where there are] children, many of them eight, 12-years-old."
Buckner said the area would become dangerous so the children won't be able to sail.
Lori Lowe, president of The Bahamas Sailing Association, said Montagu Bay is "the best place in the world to sail".
"We have had more than a number of international sailors come to this country and say that to us, unrequested, unsolicited," Lowe said.
She said she does not know how sailors could be safe with such an operation.
"The proposal talks about safety regulations and safety rules and being safe for the seaplane," Lowe said.
"There is nothing here for the safety of the people on the water."
Jaxon Parker, a sailing coach who teaches beginner sailing to eight to 15-year-olds, said his main concern is having children on the water the same time seaplanes are landing.
"That runway is literally where I will be having kids sail every single day of the week," Parker said.
He said in the event of an emergency with the children, he would be severely hampered in getting them to safety.
Parker also said, "Sailing is our national sport. What does Atlantis care more about, promoting youth sports in our country or profiting off Americans? What do we care more about, seriously? That is right where I'll be sailing. It would severely limit our ability to promote sailing in this country with our youth."
Coolidge Cartwright, a South Ocean resident and sailing enthusiast, also objected to the project.
"That area right there is where all the races are done," said Cartwright, who added that his son, who is now assistant sailing coach at Brown University, started sailing in Montagu Bay when he was eight.
He said a seaplane operation in that area would also take sailing away from underprivileged children who learn to sail through special programs that are offered.
"I'm not against Atlantis and their thing," Cartwright added.
"We have enough problems in this country. We need something for our youth, something positive."
Lissa Pyfrom, who lives between Florida and The Bahamas, expressed concerns about noise pollution from the seaplanes.
"These planes are not quiet," Pyfrom said.
"If you've ever been to Vancouver, Canada, and been down to where the seaplanes are, it is a noisy area and those planes are coming and going and as more flights get added and people want to go to other locations, it is going to get busier and busier and it will become a complete noise center. It will drown out that area."
'We can make this work'
Roberts, one of the Atlantis executives who was present last night, said the resort had eyed other areas.
"So we initially started this with other locations in mind to do this and we were directed by the Port Department and the Civil Aviation [Authority] to look at Montagu Bay," he said.
Asked what other areas Atlantis had considered, Roberts said, "Originally, the seaplanes used to land right in the harbor and pull right up to the Chalk's site, which was owned by Atlantis, and then we looked to the west of the harbor, in the Long Wharf area, as a potential, and, again, we were advised by the regulators that because of the activities with the cruise lines in the harbor, they wanted us to move to the east."
Roberts said Atlantis respects the fact that there are regattas and other cultural activities that happen at Montagu Bay.
"So we can just as easy as we would black out weather related events, we can black out specific days when there are these kinds of events, but it would be up for us and the Port Department to try to understand exactly the dates we are proposing versus what else is happening in Montagu Bay," he said.
"We spent a lot of time in Montagu Bay to get to this point with the Port Department and we did not see the activity that they (the sailing enthusiasts) are describing."
He said Atlantis is proposing five excursions a week.
"So it's not a big operation and certainly if demand expands we will look to grow it, but there has got to be space in the harbor, either to the west or the east or whatever to make this work. I mean, these kinds of accommodations happen in harbors all around the world," Roberts said.
He said the seaplane operation would not be a money-making venture for Atlantis, but a way for the resort to make itself even more attractive and to offer a more interesting and diversified experience.
"There's no value to us," he said, seeking to make the point that it was not about profits.
"We're just trying to create some very high-end, curated experiences for the very high-end segment of our guests because then that allows us to differentiate us as Atlantis and it allows us to be that more exciting to people at the high end."
Roberts said the operation would better expose the Family Islands and boost tourism in those places.
The post 'Take your project somewhere else' appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.The post 'Take your project somewhere else' appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
