A spokesperson for the KAABOO Cayman Festival said on Rooster’s early morning radio show that the temporary double line fence that was erected across the public beach in West Bay was exactly that – temporary. “It is just like Pirates Week,” the man said. “Traffic gets diverted along Harbour Drive in George Town whilst the festivities take place. It is exactly the same.”

Hearing that I exploded! People pass freely through the barriers that are in place for the Dancing/Bands, Landing and Float Parade. It is only traffic that is diverted and the diversion is minimal.

The fencing that is already in place by Dart’s Kimpton Hotel shows very clearly it is an impediment to people.

Incredibly, after complaints by a number of persons, the chairman of the Public Lands Commission said that their chief inspector had found nothing wrong with the fencing and it was on private land.

This to anyone with any intelligence could determine that the fence was erected well past the vegetation line and the high water market. That meant it was NOT on private land.

A precedent was now being set.

The position the Public Lands Commission has taken on this is terrible and beyond sound reason. The Public Lands Commission is tasked with regulating the use and enjoyment of public lands, including beach access.

This hardly gives any comfort to any of us who try to get to the beach when public rights of way provided to give beach access are constantly being illegally blocked.

Not one single person has been fined, or let alone charged, with these offenses that continually happen.

Happily, the temporary KAABOO Festival fence problem has now been resolved. CNS has just reported that in response to their inquiries, the Central Planning Authority (CPA) made their own inspection on Tuesday (12) and concluded the fence had to be moved.

The CNS article reports:

‘“During the inspection, it was determined that there was scope to adjust the placement of the fence line to address any perception that the temporary fencing impeded the public’s ability to traverse the beach,” planning officials said in a statement. This was in response to CNS enquiries, which were made after readers raised concerns that the fencing, although temporary, was causing a serious impediment to the beach for a significant stretch.

‘“These adjustments are currently underway with the full cooperation and assistance of the event organisers and a follow-up inspection will be conducted before the end of day to verify the final placement,” the CPA added in its statement.

‘The authority said that the application by the organisers of the KAABOO Cayman festival for temporary tents and fencing on the beach side of the event site was made and granted in August with some conditions, including that the area between the fencing and the sea would not be blocked in any way.”

To read the whole article go to: https://caymannewsservice.com/2019/02/cpa-orders-fence-moved/

The temporary obstruction was not the only thing that was being fenced around.