KSAMC to implement measures around building permits in line with court ruling

 

Chairman of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), Mayor Andrew Swaby, says his attorneys are reviewing a recent ruling handed down by the Court of Appeal regarding the controversial construction of a multi-million dollar complex along Birdsucker Avenue in Barbican, St. Andrew.  

 

The appeal court quashed a 2020 ruling by the Supreme Court which founded that the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation and the National Environment and Planning Agency (KSAMC) acted illegally in granting building and planning permission to the developer without proper environmental clearance. 

 

The municipal corporation and NEPA had appealed the ruling. 

 

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the KSAMC on Tuesday, Mr. Swaby said the municipal corporation will implement measures around building permits in keeping with the decision of the appeal court.

 

"The court ruled, one, the KSAMC Building and Planning permits were valid; two, that the KSAMC is to enforce compliance with a stop notice served on one in October 2018; three, ordered that the KSAMC pay 30% of the claimant's legal fee; and four, the KSAMC should pay its own legal fee," he outlined. 

 

"We continue to review the recent decision of the Court of Appeal with our attorneys. We are mindful that based on these decisions, the KSAMC will be required to take certain actions which will be determined upon a final review. While many have welcomed the Court of Appeal ruling as a victory for this administration, it represents much more. We see it as a reaffirmation of the importance of public confidence in the knowledge and skills and experience of our officers," said the mayor.

 

Residents of the upscale Birdsucker Avenue community had challenged the construction of the multi-storey building in their neighbourhood and took the matter to court in 2018. 

 

The building was in danger of being demolished after Justice Georgiana Fraser ruled in 2020 that the building and environmental approvals for the development issued by the KSAMC and NEPA broke the law. 

 

Justice Fraser had argued that the KSAMC breached its statutory duties and failed to follow procedures outlined in the Town and Country Planning Act by, among other things, granting building approval before an environmental permit was issued. 

 

She added that the municipal authority also had no jurisdiction to give building approval despite several breaches of the 2017 Provisional Development Order of Kingston and St. Andrew.