The Executive Council of St. Eustatius has given its approval of the amended Spatial Development Plan to facilitate the expansion of the Statia NuStar terminal in Culde- Sac.
In a statement that was provided by the Government Information Service of St. Eustatius it was stated that NuStar Energy N.V. had formally requested the Island Council for a decision on allowing the expansion of the current oil terminal. The in-depth statement provides detailed information about the procedures that were followed, as well as about the Executive Council’s motives to adapt the Spatial Development Plan to facilitate the terminal’s expansion.
NuStar had applied for a number of permits, including a building permit, planning permissions and an amendment of the Spatial Development Plan 2011 (SDP). The SDP makes the expansion plan possible by including an amendment procedure within the comprehensive planning document. At the time of adoption of the current SDP the expansion project was insufficiently concrete and the required impact assessments were not available. This justified an amendment procedure for the proposed expansion of the oil terminal.
Many organizations and individuals made formal objections against the draft amendment. The Executive Council received 1,034 reactions, primarily through several signature drives. Of these 238 were counted as formal objections with identifiable signature, name and address.
According to the Executive Council, all objections were thoroughly considered. These considerations can be found in a Memorandum of Reply in which the objections are summarized and evaluated.
The entire document with the objections and answers is published here:
After assessing all the arguments that were submitted, the Executive Council made adjustments to the draft amendment plan on a number of aspects. Concerning the main issues, the amendment plan has remained the same as the draft amendment plan. No fundamental changes have been made. The Executive Council has made the decision, Memorandum of Reply and other relevant documents available for public review.
Source: “The Daily Herald” 2012-04-14
