The following Letter to the Editor appears in today’s Nation newspaper under the name Peter Thompson.
Reject subdivision of Drax Hall
I WRITE TO REGISTER my strenuous objection to Planning Application 0984/07/2023B, which seeks approval for subdivision of land from Drax Hall Plantation in St George for residential purposes.
The application, published in the last SATURDAY SUN, represents not merely a routine planning matter but a profound betrayal of Barbados’ commitment to justice, historical accountability, and sound land use policy.
My objection rests on three compelling grounds, each of which individually merits rejection of this application. Collectively, they demonstrate why this development must not proceed.
Ground 1: Proceeds of the greatest crime against humanity Drax Hall Plantation is not ordinary land. It is, as historian Professor Sir Hilary Beckles has accurately described, a “crime scene” and “killing field” where an estimated 30 000 enslaved Africans died under conditions of unspeakable brutality.
The Drax family pioneered the industrialised sugar-slavery complex in Barbados in the 17th century and authored the Barbados Slave Code, which denied black Africans basic human rights, including the right to life itself.
The current owner, UK Conservative MP Richard Drax, inherited this 617-acre plantation in 2017. His family fortune, estimated at over £150 million, and their English titles, are entirely proceeds of crime against humanity. As The Guardian documented in April 2024, after abolition in 1834, the Drax family even received £4 200 in compensation – an enormous sum at the time – for the “loss” of enslaved people they had brutalised for profit.
Since 2017, Sir Richard Drax has systematically evaded responsibility for making appropriate reparations. In 2022, when Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley requested he hand over all or a substantial part of Drax Hall as reparations, discussions have proceeded at a glacial pace while Drax explores commercial opportunities to further enrich himself from land soaked in African blood.
Any alienation of Drax Hall land for private profit – whether through sale or subdivision – would represent a historical atrocity, robbing descendants of the enslaved of the reparations that are their moral and legal due. As Trevor Prescod, chair of the Barbados National Task Force on Reparations, stated: “This is one plantation that the Government should not be paying a cent for.”
Ground 2: Prime Minister’s unkept promise In April 2024, following public outcry documented by The Guardian, Prime Minister Mottley halted plans for a £3.2 million Government purchase of 53 acres of Drax Hall. In a seven-minute broadcast to the nation, she acknowledged that many Barbadians “feel they have been robbed of the opportunity of having an appropriate settlement for reparations that ought to be made as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of Barbadians over centuries”.
Crucially, the Prime Minister promised widespread national discussion before any decision would be reached on Drax Hall’s future. She stated unequivocally: “This is not a matter we take lightly.”
Nearly two years later, these promised discussions have not occurred. The Barbadian people have not been consulted. Civil society organisations have not been engaged. The reparations task force has not been heard.
If Planning Application 0984/07/2023B is approved, Prime Minister Mottley will have broken her solemn promise to the people of Barbados. The subdivision of this land for residential development would proceed without the national conversation she pledged, effectively accomplishing through planning permission what could not be achieved through direct purchase.
Ground 3: Violation of physical development plan Beyond its historical significance, this application violates sound planning principles. Drax Hall sits in St George, one of the most fertile agricultural regions of Barbados. The subdivision of irreplaceable agricultural land for residential purposes contradicts both the letter and spirit of the official Barbados Physical Development Plan, which prioritises food security and preservation of agricultural capacity.
At a time when Barbados seeks greater food sovereignty and climate resilience, converting prime agricultural land to residential plots represents policy incoherence of the highest order.
Conclusion
I call upon the Planning and Development Department to reject Application 0984/07/2023B outright. The people of Barbados deserve justice, truth and the national conversation we were promised. Drax Hall must be preserved in its entirety for appropriate reparations, not subdivided for private profit.
The deadline for objections is February 14. Every Barbadian who cares about justice should make their voice heard.
– PETER THOMPSON
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