Residents of Bannatyne, Christ Church are fighting to prevent a section of the neighbouring Newton Plantation in the shadow of a historic slave burial ground from being subdivided for housing.Objection letters have been sent to the Planning and Development Department and the residents are in the process of gaining all 56 homeowners’ signatures for a petition against the development of farmland now under active sugarcane cultivation that lies to the south of the community’s brow.The Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN) has also issued a protest against the project.One of the island’s oldest sugar plantations, Newton, which once comprised about 420 acres, is the home of the Newton Slave Burial ground, which is owned by the Barbados Museum & Historical Society. The small, upscale Bannatyne development lies on a ridge in the centre of farmlands, bordered by Bannatyne, Small Ridge and Newton estates.A noticeboard erected on the site stated that Newton Ltd, the applicant, is proposing to develop 12.2 acres, subdividing the land into 58 lots.