Emilio Wilson Estate
officially Brookson’s
CUL DE SAC--The controversy over the ownership of Emilio Wilson Estate will come to an end today, Monday, when former Minister Plenipotentiary Henri Brookson, a distant relative of the late Emilio Wilson, is registered as the owner in the Kadaster Registry.
Brookson told The Daily Herald the registration was a formality to legitimise the chain of ownership. The estate, comprising Industry and Golden Rock Plantations, has been at the centre of a three-year controversy as environmentalists lobbied against a 270-home development on one of the last bits of untouched green area on the Dutch side of the island.
Although there is an existing agreement with Emilio Wilson Estate (EWE) BV, a Dutch company that wants to develop the land, Brookson said he still thought government should make an offer to buy the property to secure it for posterity. The agreement with EWE BV is that if a planning permit is granted to it for a residential development, the owner will allow it to continue with its plans.
The Island Council voted in 2007 to uphold the Executive Council’s decision to deny a planning permit requested by EWE BV and place the entire estate on the Monument List. This is yet to be done.
Also, no development will be allowed on the estate, except for the Link VII roadway construction and any other “public necessity.”
The archaeological survey carried out by Dr. Jay Haviser in 2006 and various ecological studies highlight the estate’s historical and ecological importance to the island. These documents and intense public outcry to save the estate as a green zone played a pivotal role in the Island Council’s decision to uphold the permit denial.
Based on this stance, Brookson said government should make an offer to buy, especially with the need for land so great. He said government cannot be uninterested and still decide what a private land owner can or cannot do with his land.
