Proposal for 'a whole village' outside development zone

Coalition Press Release in Times
Today's Sunday Times report:

The proposal for development at Hondoq ir-Rummien in Qala makes a mockery of the government's statement that the controversial rationalisation process would at least settle the development boundaries issue once and for all, according to the Coalition of Environment NGOs.
The Coalition, the same group of NGOs behind the protests against the rationalisation process, lambasted the proposal, saying that a whole village is being proposed outside the development zone.

Moreover, the statement said, this proposal has resurfaced at virtually the same time as the new local plans for the area are being approved. A similar proposal to build a yacht marina, surrounded by luxury apartments, was turned down by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) in 2004.

"Also, coincidentally, the policy of the Qala (Hondoq) Local Plan seems to echo the developers' proposals and is diametrically opposed to what was set out in the previous Local Plan," the statement added.

The statement also criticised the fact that MEPA accepted the developers' choice of site without demanding a serious site selection exercise.