Powerful Coalition Formed to Fight Commercialization of the Golden Triangle

Friday, February 8, 2008: The citizens of the Golden Triangle and surrounding areas, have declared war on creeping commercialization and flawed urban planning in one of Kingston’s oldest and most prestigious residential districts with the formation of the Trafalgar Council. The Trafalgar Council – a citizen’s action committee, is an amalgam of the main umbrella citizens associations in the Golden Triangle (Seymour Lands), Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston and reflects the political unification of Waderoy Clarke, Deputy Chairman of the KSAC Building Committee and JLP Councillor, Trafalgar Division and PNP Deputy General Secretary Julian Robinson in his capacity as Caretaker / Councillor, Trafalgar Division, on these issues.

Convenor of the Trafalgar Council, Economic Consultant and former talk show host Joseph Cox, notes that the over 20,000 residents the group represents are angered by years of inaction and / or lassitude on the part of public sector agencies to effectively treat with the myriad of complaints about creeping commercialization spanning decades. This, he notes, as the public sector bodies with which they have had to interact on an individual association basis have not operated in a consistent manner and indeed have rendered all prior agreements meaningless as the “rules” seem to have a fluidity of their own and such “rules” seem to be dependent on which citizens group is being addressed. Some of the breaches highlighted by the Trafalgar Council include the operation of a nightclub boasting open air entertainment within 100 metres of a Ministry of Health approved Home for the Aged in the midst of a residential community, the granting of permission for the operation of a massage parlour (despite objections from both the citizens and the KSAC), and a radio station right beside a multi-storey apartment complex, itself a breach.

In this regard, Cox notes that though the intervention of the Public Defender had already been sought, a powerful legal team is being developed to utilize the court system to facilitate effective enforcement of the restrictive covenants by NEPA and the Town and Country Planning Authority. This will include a stop order on any new commercial developments coupled with the seeking of injunctive relief to force NEPA to consult with affected persons before making any amendments to the zoning laws, density ratios or setback distances for Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston. The Council will also be seeking a reversal of those approvals granted without proper consultations as required under the law. This as persons in the affected communities are being misled into believing that the zoning regulations have been altered and despite strong objections by individuals and citizens associations, planning permission continues to be granted in an arbitrary fashion and citizens concerns dismissed with impunity.

“We are undaunted by the tasks ahead and wish to put everyone on notice that we will be unrelenting in our pursuit of all legal and moral remedies to preserve our community, one home at a time”, the Trafalgar Council Convenor bluntly stated.