St Lucia’s ‘natural justice’ puts a stop to Sandals’ ‘unreasonable’ construction
/ Our Today
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Francois Charlery/Contributor
The Landings, a hotel in Gros Islet, St Lucia has won a landmark case against Caribbean hotel giant Sandals Resorts which will stop the ‘unfair construction’ of a building which would impede the viability of The Landings.
Sandals, with three hotels in St Lucia planned to put up a building on the Pigeon Island Causeway which would have significantly blocked the view from the Landings.
To make matters worse, Sandals refused to inform or submit documents of its development plans to the proprietors of The Landings.
‘BREACH OF RULES OF NATURAL JUSTICE’
St Lucia’s Court of Appeal has held that the move by Sandals was “unfair, unreasonable and in breach of the rules of natural justice”.
At the very least, Sandals should have informed The Landings of their plans and taken into consideration any objections or concerns it might have had.
Julian Ferdinand, formerly of La Pointe, Choiseul, said: “This has been a bone of contention for years. ‘Butch’ Stewart just didn’t want to hear it and no one seemed able to reason with him.
“When Allen Chastanet was prime minister, he did all he could to help Mr Stewart and even he could see this would lead to problems. This is a fair decision and now means that small hoteliers can get a fair shot before St Lucian courts. The big man doesn’t always win.”
Ferdinand added: “What happened here was that the DCA went full steam ahead with the approvals and didn’t take anyone’s view or feelings on the matter into consideration. As far as it was concerned this was already done and that everyone would just have to live with it because one of the biggest employers in St Lucia decided it must have its way.”
WON TRIP ADVISOR AWARD IN 2019
The Landings Resort and Spa, which won Trip Advisor’s Travelers Choice Award in 2019 and again this year, is a cosy all-villa hotel tucked along the shore of Rodney Bay.
It is an 85-room boutique five-star modern hotel which sits on 19 acres surrounding a private lagoon.
The Landings is part of the portfolio of the Barbados-based Elegant Hotels.
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