By Kenicia Francis
Businessman Peter Kelsick says he plans to take legal action against the Development Control Authority (DCA) after the government agency apparently demolished his Dickenson Bay beach bar, Sneaky Pete’s, on Monday night.
The bar was demolished after DCA claimed Kelsick didn’t have the appropriate permission to be there, and because new hotel, the Royalton Chic, said it was blocking the view of one of their facilities.
“I’m sure judgment will be in my favour because I have all the relevant documentation that allowed me to be in the position that I was.
“I’ve had a position on this beach for 40 years. So, it would seem rather strange over that period of time, nobody thought I was there without the relevant permission,” Kelsick told Observer.
He said he believes his business was demolished during the night as “a sort of subterfuge under the cover of darkness because they didn’t want any media or exposure”.
Kelcisk said he left the area around 11pm Monday which is when he suspects the demolition began.
“I guess they had people looking out. As soon as we left, we were told that the demolition had started. It would have been after 11 o’clock because we left here about 11,” he said.
“It had been pending for some time … they claim we didn’t have the approval to be there, which is rubbish because I have documentation printed with approval stamps and so on from the same DCA,” he told Observer.
The demolition took place after negotiations between Kelsick and the Royalton Chic broke down.
Kelsick said he had been approached with an offer to either relocate or accept compensation for the removal of his bar.
The amount offered by the hotel was subsequently cut in half when he turned to the media to request help with the ongoing negotiations.
Sources close to the situation claim Kelsick was served with the demolition notice on December 19 and was told to produce documentation that he had received permission to be there. He said he got a verbal agreement from former Prime Minister Lester Bird, who has since died.
Observer reached out to the Minister of Housing and the DCA, Maria Browne, the Chief Town and Country Planner, Frederick Southwell, and the Deputy Town and Country Planner, Clement Antonio, for comment, but received no responses up to news time.