The site of the old Coral Cove Cottages is for sale again. It seems the owner has given up on developing it.
Here’s why you should not buy it – unless you want to turn it into a mini nature reserve.
Community Opposition
The community will not allow over development of this site and that includes a conventional hotel. We will oppose it on established legal, environmental and social grounds and we will pursue it through the courts through appeals and Privy Council if necessary.
Some of our earlier opposition was summarised in this note: https://coralcovegrenada.org/2022/03/31/why-planning-consent-should-be-refused/
Since that time, environmental concerns and rights have risen in the powers they are given by the courts. We have the rights of consultation and participation in the decisions of the planning authority – and we will use them. And recent relevant judgements ensure that we as the community have legal standing to claim for judicial review to overturn approvals that are unlawful, irrational or procedurally unfair.
Unsuitable for conventional tourism development
The site is the wrong side of the island for tourism. It is in the constant Atlantic salt blast. Tables and sunbeds will fly. Everything rusts in a few months. There are no sunsets visible. The access roads are residential and can’t take construction or hotel operational volumes. Water supply is a serious problem – as is safe human waste disposal without a municipal sewerage system.
The site is too small to accommodate a commercially viable hotel without violating the building regulations (valid under the Physical Planning and Development Control Act 2026) in terms of plot coverage and proximity to boundaries and high-water levels.
The beach is entirely unsuitable for tourism. Only at low tide is there any beach at all and this is a nesting site for Hawksbill turtles, a Critically Endangered species. Any interference in the beach or sea by remodelling for tourism would be a criminal offence. The sea is too shallow to swim in and the seabed covered in seagrass and inhabited by young sting rays.
Local Development Plan (LDP)
The LDP prepared for L’Anse aux Epines under Part III of the Act designates the site as an Environmental Protected Area under S. 48 of the Act.
The site may be suitable for a small eco-tourism lodge based on marine exploration and educative vacations of the kind growing in popularity around the world. Any development should be restricted to the footprints and form of the existing cottages with a maximum of two storeys and with no encroachment towards the sea. Total plot coverage should be limited to 20% as per the Building Regulations.
The southern 40% of the site is untouched ancient coastal woodland and should remain so.
Further information
You are welcome to contact us to discuss any aspect of the potential development of this site and what might be acceptable to the community.