With those sentiments, the Chairman of the Planning and Development Board, Mr. Nelson Louison, set the tone for a day-long retreat for the Public Officers of the Physical Planning Unit (PPU) that was facilitated by the Agency for Reconstruction and Development (ARD).

The retreat, the first in a series, was organised by ARD Physical Planner Elizabeth Charles-Soomer, who has been working with the PPU since taking up her post in January, through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation.

The retreat for the 10-member staff of the PPU, which took place in the ARD Board Room and was facilitated by ARD staff members, focussed on improving efficiency of the planning process through better administrative processes, appropriate training and the sustainable development of Grenada’s limited land resources.

In outlining some of the challenges for the Unit, Mr. Louison referred to:

• the level of informal development by squatters;
• increased vulnerability of the population to natural hazards caused by squatting;
• the filling of mangrove and water courses;
• loss of prime agricultural land; and
• sand mining

The Physical Planning Unit is a department of the Ministry of Finance and Planning and serves as the Secretariat for the Planning and Development Board.

Acting Head of the Unit, Mr. Fabian Purcell, embraced the opportunity of the Retreat to encourage his colleagues to develop solutions that will ensure land resources are utilised in a manner that sustains growth and considers public safety.

“We have to change the perception we are a development control unit in the eyes of the public,” Mr. Purcell added.

Noting that the Unit does not have the resources to fully implement the Physical Planning and Development Act, Mrs. Charles-Soomer said one of the challenges for the Retreat is to identify ways to ensure that the flow of applications is controlled and not constrained.

She also took the opportunity to inform the staff that the ARD, through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation, will be providing the Unit with a Global Positioning System (GPS), a computer and a colour printer to support Local Area Planning.