Premier says bureaucracy stalled Crown Land Board for months

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has blamed government bureaucracy for delays in establishing the Crown Lands Management Board, saying the holdup stalled progress on key land matters, including the long-running distribution of lands in Anegada.

Speaking in the House of Assembly during debate on the appointment of the chairman of the Crown Lands Management Board, Wheatley said Cabinet approved members of the board as far back as October 2025, but the appointment process remained incomplete for months.

“Cabinet first appointed members of the Crown Land Board in October, and I’m not quite sure why it took us so long. Now we’re in May to be able to get the chair of the board to come for this affirmative resolution six months later,” Dr Wheatley said.

He added: “Unfortunately, we are still subjected to a level of bureaucracy that allows things to take way too long. This should not have taken so long to get here.”

The Premier said the delay had prevented the board from becoming fully operational and slowed efforts to address several outstanding Crown land matters.

The issue has been particularly significant for residents of Anegada, where land distribution has remained unresolved for years. Dr Wheatley said the government had been working to move the matter forward despite administrative obstacles.

“I have been speaking and advocating on their behalf and encouraging those responsible for moving this along to move it along,” Premier Wheatley stated. “I have been, in that way, fighting behind the scenes, along with the other members of this government, fighting through the bureaucracy to make it happen.”

The Crown Lands Management Act came into force in 2024 and established a new governance framework for the management and allocation of Crown lands. The legislation created the Crown Lands Advisory Board, whose chairman must receive approval from the House of Assembly before the body can function fully.

Deputy Premier Julian Fraser, who moved the resolution, said the appointment process had also delayed decisions on Anegada lands. He noted that the board’s membership was submitted to the Cabinet in October but took months to complete.

The Premier said the establishment of the board represented an important step toward resolving the longstanding Anegada issue. “I want to assure the Anegada people that this is a significant step in helping them to achieve that ambition,” Dr Wheatley said.

He also sought to reassure residents that they would not have to restart the land allocation process. He added that once the board is in place, it can review the existing process and determine whether it satisfies governance requirements.

Premier Wheatley said the government must now move quickly to complete the next stages of the process.

“We don’t want the next step to take another six months. We have to get this done ASAP with urgency, with expediency. We have to move forward so we can make some distributions of land,” the Premier said.