THERE is room for Oistins to develop to its full potential.

This is the view of the President of the Barbados National Trust, Peter Stevens, while speaking about the small town which he described as an “interesting situation” that seems to be at a point of a turn; at the end of one phase and about to enter a new one.

“Oistins is also unusual, in that there is no classic town construction on the sea side of the road; from in front of the supermarket area to the Court and Police Station area. The centre of the town is dominated by the fishing activities,” Stevens said.

The President was delivering the feature address during the Sir Harold Bernard St. John Memorial Lecture, at the Christ Church Parish Church Centre, on Wednesday night.

He explained that on the western side, of the waterfront, is the boatyard and ice houses, more central is the actual fish market, and then on the eastern side, the end product of that industry is presented in what is known as the ‘Fish-Fry’.

He said the balance to all the fishing activity is the other side of the street, the land side, where the rest of the town functions.

However, it actually looks like development has stopped in this part of Oistins, though it continues in the more distant environs outside of the bay area, he continued.
Stevens suggested that the concentration of development seems to have been put into the fish market and Fry, but little else has been done.

“We want to build new buildings, but we want them to be in a character that suits Oistins. We need to come up with new ideas that bring back the character I suspect was there before. We got a lot of spaced out businesses with roads in between that aren’t that friendly.

“We need a bit more tighter shops in the area. We don’t need all of these drive thru accesses, do that around the back, but leave more shop frontage and make it a more interesting shopping experience on that side... There is room for reinvigorating Oistins. We can do a new Barbados town right here in Oistins,” he said.

Stevens made it clear that while he sees the need for development, he is not saying that nothing has been done to enhance the area, though it appears so, and that can mean everything.

Furthermore, the irony is that while Oistins is clearly underdeveloped, it has still managed to retain an identity that some of its more developed neighbours may be losing, presenting an opportunity to create a new proud and complete Oistins that no one will forget.

“The Barbados National Trust would love to see that opportunity grasped and I suspect it would make Ms Berinda Cox smile too,” Stevens said. (AH)