Cherry seeks legal advice following latest stop order

Prominent waste hauler Anderson Cherry could be headed back to court after being served with a stop notice on one of his operations.

Today, the Chief Town Planner served enforcement and stop notices on the owner and operator of the land at Lower Estate, St. George, claiming the use of the land had been changed without its permission.

The action, taken under the Town and Country Planning Act, Cap. 240, saw Denzil Power & Sons being served as the property owner and Jose & Jose Group of Companies being served as the occupier.

The Chief Town Planner concluded that the mining and quarrying taking place on the property bordering a landfill where off-and-on smouldering has been an irritant to neighbours, is occurring without the necessary permission of his office.

“It appears to the Chief Town Planner that the above development has occurred within the last four years between January 2020 and September 2021 and being after 14th April, 1972, the date of coming into force of the Town and Country Development Order, 1972, and the Chief Town Planner hereby requires that the following steps be taken to restore the land to its condition before the development took place,” the notice states.

The notice ordered the entities to “cease using any part of the land for mining and quarry purposes, to cease using any part of the land for the purposes of storage in connection with the said development, to remove from the land all vehicles, equipment, machinery and materials brought onto the land for the purposes of that use and to restore the land to its condition before the breach took place.”

The notice takes effect on October 6, 2021, unless an appeal is made beforehand or an application is made to the Chief Town Planner.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Cherry, the chief executive officer of Jose Y Jose Group of Companies, said he did not believe he was breaking the law when he began to recycle on the mentioned property.

“Well I am a little bit concerned because we were put before the law court because we attempted to change the use from mining to recycling and we were instructed by the Town Planner that we are not allowed to change the use and we would have to continue to mine.

“I understand the concern, but what we are doing is not illegal. However, as a citizen of Barbados, we will comply with whatever the Town Planner requests and we may see if the court thinks I am doing something right or wrong,” Cherry said.

When asked he if would be appealing the notice, Cherry said he would take legal advice from his attorney-at-law.

“As you know I am in construction and waste hauling, I’m not into legal matters, but my attorney will advise me accordingly,” he responded.

Cherry said he believed his operations were being sabotaged.

It is not the first time Cherry has found himself in breach of the law.

In 2019, Magistrate Douglas Frederick found the businessman guilty of violating zoning laws by using his quarry near the island’s main water table as a dump.

The magistrate ruled that Cherry’s company, Project Recycling Limited, changed the use of its land at the Lower Estate Quarry, St George – originally zoned for mining – for solid waste disposal between November 10 and December 15, 2015 without the required planning permission.
(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)