By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE Town Planning Committee has rejected an application to develop a cemetery in the Soldier Road area after the proposal was deemed to be "incompatible land use" for the community, committee chair Diane Holowesko Dunkley told The Tribune yesterday.

The cemetery was proposed to be built immediately northeast of Kennedy Subdivision, next to Superwash on Soldier Road.

The backlash from locals was swift. Last month, resident Gloria Wallace wrote a letter to The Tribune decrying the proposal, citing issues such as property devaluation, ground water contamination, and traffic concerns as reasons why the cemetery should not be built.

A town meeting was held on August 27 to allow residents to express their concerns.

Mrs Holowesko Dunkley said the meeting was "very spirited" and well-attended by residents in and around Soldier Road.

"The residents were unanimous in their feelings that they did not want a cemetery there," Mrs Holowesko Dunkley said. She added some residents admitted the island does need another cemetery but rejected the notion it should be built in that community.

Mrs Holowesko Dunkley said the following day, August 28, a regularly scheduled town planning meeting was held.

At that meeting, "The committee resolved to refuse the proposed cemetery as it was deemed to be incompatible land use," she said.

The applicant received the letter on Wednesday.

Last week, Mrs Holowesko Dunkley explained to The Tribune that the committee strives to "balance" a developer's right to develop a property while considering what is best for the overall welfare of the larger community.

"When (someone) buys a piece of land…by law, they are allowed to submit to Town Planning an application to do absolutely anything with the land," she said then.

"If you're living or I'm living next to an empty piece of property, the owner…could submit an application to Town Planning to put a nuclear power site on the piece of property next to me."

Mrs Holowesko Dunkley said whether or not an application is approved is another matter.

"Part of the (committee's) responsibility, as mandated by the Planning and Subdivision Act 2010 is to ensure the safety, convenience, welfare of both current and future residents in an area. And we take that responsibility very seriously."