Qala Creek development opponents lodge complaint with EU
Published on the Malta Independent on Sunday on 4th March 2007 by David Lindsay
The Moviment Harsien Hondoq (Hondoq Protection Movement) announced yesterday that it has petitioned the European Environment Commissioner over the fact that a referendum among Qala residents, which overwhelming voted against the proposed Qala Creek development, is being ignored as plans for the mega tourism development push forward.
The letter of protest, Paul Buttigieg of the Movement explained yesterday, has been sent through Maltese European parliamentarian Joseph Muscat and joins other official correspondence forwarded to the Commission from Alternattiva Demokratika, Nature Trust and Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ahjar.
The referendum in question was held back in 2002, when the multi-million pound tourism development in the coastal area known as Hondoq ir-Rummien had first been proposed. No fewer than 85 per cent of Qala residents had voted against the development, which had been temporarily shelved shortly afterwards.The so-called Qala Creek project was then rehashed in December 2005 and presented to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) in January 2006. At the moment, the development is at the Project Description Statement stage and is said to be awaiting an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The development, which is envisaged to be concluded by 2010, is impressive on paper and will comprise a 170-room five-star hotel, 25 villas, 60 self-catering units, 200 multi-ownership residences, a “village centre” with a small church, administration offices, small-scale shops and restaurants and the 100-150 vessel marina.
There is one thing upon which both the prospective developers and their opponents agree – that the eyesore that is the disused quarry and garigue area requires urgent rehabilitation. But while the opponents would like to see it rehabilitated to its natural state, the developers propose further excavating the quarry and developing it into a yacht marina at the basin with the development itself rising up its sides and extending along the cliff edge.
The tourist village itself, according to the developer’s plans, will assimilate the style and character of a traditional Gozitan village that had developed organically over a century or more.
The developers, meanwhile, insist they will take all mitigating measures necessary to prevent environmental degradation and to promote sustainability. Such measures include the rooftops of the steeply terraced buildings being soft and hard landscaped, with endemic plants being planted throughout, and the creation of heritage and nature trails. It is planned that the project will have its own sewage treatment and reverse osmosis plants and the main air-conditioning plant will be cooled by seawater.
But such considerations have not quelled opposition from Qala and environmental lobbies, which intend to fight off the development, come what may. They argue that the development stands to destroy one of Gozo’s most popular beaches, contaminate the coastline with marine fuel from the marina traffic and give rise to multiple developments in the area.
The Moviment Harsien Hondoq (Hondoq Protection Movement) announced yesterday that it has petitioned the European Environment Commissioner over the fact that a referendum among Qala residents, which overwhelming voted against the proposed Qala Creek development, is being ignored as plans for the mega tourism development push forward.
The letter of protest, Paul Buttigieg of the Movement explained yesterday, has been sent through Maltese European parliamentarian Joseph Muscat and joins other official correspondence forwarded to the Commission from Alternattiva Demokratika, Nature Trust and Flimkien ghall-Ambjent Ahjar.
The referendum in question was held back in 2002, when the multi-million pound tourism development in the coastal area known as Hondoq ir-Rummien had first been proposed. No fewer than 85 per cent of Qala residents had voted against the development, which had been temporarily shelved shortly afterwards.The so-called Qala Creek project was then rehashed in December 2005 and presented to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) in January 2006. At the moment, the development is at the Project Description Statement stage and is said to be awaiting an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The development, which is envisaged to be concluded by 2010, is impressive on paper and will comprise a 170-room five-star hotel, 25 villas, 60 self-catering units, 200 multi-ownership residences, a “village centre” with a small church, administration offices, small-scale shops and restaurants and the 100-150 vessel marina.
There is one thing upon which both the prospective developers and their opponents agree – that the eyesore that is the disused quarry and garigue area requires urgent rehabilitation. But while the opponents would like to see it rehabilitated to its natural state, the developers propose further excavating the quarry and developing it into a yacht marina at the basin with the development itself rising up its sides and extending along the cliff edge.
The tourist village itself, according to the developer’s plans, will assimilate the style and character of a traditional Gozitan village that had developed organically over a century or more.
The developers, meanwhile, insist they will take all mitigating measures necessary to prevent environmental degradation and to promote sustainability. Such measures include the rooftops of the steeply terraced buildings being soft and hard landscaped, with endemic plants being planted throughout, and the creation of heritage and nature trails. It is planned that the project will have its own sewage treatment and reverse osmosis plants and the main air-conditioning plant will be cooled by seawater.
But such considerations have not quelled opposition from Qala and environmental lobbies, which intend to fight off the development, come what may. They argue that the development stands to destroy one of Gozo’s most popular beaches, contaminate the coastline with marine fuel from the marina traffic and give rise to multiple developments in the area.
posted by Hondoq at
1:19 PM
