Jay Ebanks has announced plans to amend planning legislation to protect existing homeowners from flooding caused by new developments that alter natural water flow patterns.
During an interview on Radio Cayman on 10 June, the planning, lands, agriculture, housing and infrastructure minister said he has discussed the issue with government colleagues.
He has sought their support for changes to the Development and Planning Act that would extend developer responsibilities beyond their own property boundaries.
Ebanks explained that in low-lying areas where water naturally runs off, building up land can cause problems for neighbours.
The minister wants to look at changing the planning law to address areas that are flooding and the surrounding properties where water will flow to.
“We need to start to protect our people that built homes for the last 20 years or 30 years and never had a flooding problem until a development came alongside them,” he said.
Retention pond strategy
Ebanks indicated the government should consider purchasing land specifically for retention ponds to prevent future flooding in vulnerable areas including Randyke Gardens, South Sound, Bodden Town and Washington Boulevard.
“I’ve asked the government that we need to look at when we’re purchasing land, that we start to look at some of these areas that we could hold for retention ponds,” the minister said.
He cited a specific example in North Side where he was examining land acquisition to prevent potential flooding damage to homes built 40 to 50 years ago.
The minister also spoke of plans to quickly implement changes to high watermark surveys and beachfront development regulations, describing these as “quick wins” that could be extracted from broader planning law reforms.
“Something that me and my team are looking at right now is the high watermark surveys, going forward and spread on the beaches,” Ebanks said, noting collaboration with the environment minister.
Housing updates
Regarding the North Side housing project, Ebanks confirmed the first phase had received certificates of occupancy and keys would be distributed shortly.
“The first eight has their COs [certificate of occupancy] to go. And then eight to 14 are just on their last final inspection,” the minister said.
He indicated the Cayman Islands National Housing Development Trust would contact residents this week to coordinate with banks for the property transfer process.
For George Town area development, Ebanks identified one site as suitable for affordable housing construction.
When asked about the Government Guaranteed Home Assisted Mortgage scheme, Ebanks confirmed his team had completed preparations for what is now called “the Home Programme”.
“It is now up to the team to deliver this. I’m not going to put it on the minister of finance yet because I don’t think he’s probably even had the opportunity to see it yet,” he said.
The minister indicated the programme would soon be ready for approval by the finance minister and included in the government’s Strategic Policy Statement.
