The Fight Over Caribbean Coastlines

BBC Business reported Wednesday that communities across the Caribbean are waging legal and political battles to retain Caribbean beach access as wealthy foreign developers acquire and fence off coastlines once freely used by residents.

One Island, One Holdout Strip of Sand

The struggle is perhaps sharpest on Barbuda, a small island of roughly 2,000 people. Local resident Miranda Beazer ran a beachside bar on rose-tinted sand for over two decades. Hurricane Irma levelled the bar in 2017, forcing a full island evacuation. When she tried to rebuild, Miranda says foreign developers had already moved onto her plot with bulldozers. She is now pursuing a legal case to recover access to coastline she holds a lease on. Lawyers at the Global Legal Action Network are supporting her claim that developers Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness are illegally occupying the land. Both companies have disputed those allegations.

A Land System Built on Collective Rights

Barbuda’s property framework is unusual. After slavery ended there in 1834, land ownership became communal rather than individual. Residents may occupy plots through leases, but no single person holds private title. All major development decisions are meant to require community consultation. The government formally codified this system through the Barbuda Land Act of 2007. Critics argue that law has since been undermined by a subsequent act passed in 2015, which explicitly exempted one major resort development from the 2007 rules entirely.

Star-Studded Investment Meets Local Resistance

That development is The Beach Club Barbuda, a sprawling 400-acre resort backed in part by Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer. Due to complete later this year, the complex will include a luxury Nobu hotel with 17 villas and 25 beachfront homes. Entry-level plot prices reportedly begin at $7 million. Locals say a newly constructed bypass road now physically blocks them from even seeing the beach the resort sits on. John Mussington, chair of Barbuda Council, argues the project was only made possible by sidestepping established land protections. Community groups mounted a legal challenge that reached the territory’s highest court.

A Pattern Repeating Across the Region

Barbuda is not alone. Campaigners in Grenada and Jamaica report similar pressures, with resort expansion steadily shrinking the stretches of coastline that residents can freely reach. Miranda’s plot now represents the last publicly accessible section of Barbuda’s southern shore. She has declined multiple large financial offers, saying the land’s value to her community far exceeds any price.

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