Update 1: Mepa directorate gives thumbs down to Ħondoq ir-Rummien development
The Environment Protection directorate within Mepa is recommending the refusal of the proposed development at Ħondoq ir-Rummien.
The much-awaited report by the directorate which was published on the Mepa’s website on Tuesday, argues that the development will provide “no overriding justifications in terms of net environmental improvement or public benefit”
The Planning Directorate is the body that provides expert recommendations to the Mepa board, which will decide on the case in the coming weeks.
Should the board overturn the recommendation given by the directorate then it would have to state why it has done so.
The directorate's report is highly critical of the development proposed. “The proposal is for a major urban-type development in ODZ and in an area which should be kept free from even small-scale urban development”.
“The excavation and operation of the marina are also of particular concern as regards to impacts on the natural and human populations of the site and surroundings”.
On balance, it states, the proposed development is not considered to uphold the principles of sustainable development, since any claimed benefits of the project can be addressed without the need to accommodate new development, such as through simple measures aimed at improving the site’s amenity, removal of alien elements namely the accumulated quarry debris, distillation plant, concrete quay and coastal debris, and regeneration of the former natural/ semi-natural habitats through afforestation or recreation of valley and improvement of amenity for informal recreational purposes.
The news was welcomed by the Qala local council, whose territory includes the Ħondoq ir-Rummien Bay. In 2002, the council organised a referendum on the project: 85% voted against the project, with a participation rate of 75%, and the council itself had also opposed the project, stating that the MEPA board should not even consider it, let alone approve it.
The council welcomed the directorate’s claims that the environmental impact assessment which was drawn up had inaccuracies, noting that it had itself deemed the EIA as completely biased in favour of the developers.
However, it will wait until the final vote to celebrate, and pledged to keep the town’s residents abreast of developments.
The recommendation to vote down the project was also welcomed by environmental NGOs Moviment Ħarsien Ħondoq, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and the Ramblers Association, who in a joint statement said that the report’s conclusion – that the area should become a national park – echoed their own stand ever since the site was earmarked for development.
They also expressed concerns about the heavily biased environmental impact assessment, which claimed that the bay was the most suitable site for a marina even though a report on the development on yachting facilities had not even considered it.
The Planning Directorate is the body that provides expert recommendations to the Mepa board, which will decide on the case in the coming weeks.Should the board overturn the recommendation given by the directorate then it would have to state why it has done so.
The directorate's report is highly critical of the development proposed. “The proposal is for a major urban-type development in ODZ and in an area which should be kept free from even small-scale urban development”.
“The excavation and operation of the marina are also of particular concern as regards to impacts on the natural and human populations of the site and surroundings”.
On balance, it states, the proposed development is not considered to uphold the principles of sustainable development, since any claimed benefits of the project can be addressed without the need to accommodate new development, such as through simple measures aimed at improving the site’s amenity, removal of alien elements namely the accumulated quarry debris, distillation plant, concrete quay and coastal debris, and regeneration of the former natural/ semi-natural habitats through afforestation or recreation of valley and improvement of amenity for informal recreational purposes.
The news was welcomed by the Qala local council, whose territory includes the Ħondoq ir-Rummien Bay. In 2002, the council organised a referendum on the project: 85% voted against the project, with a participation rate of 75%, and the council itself had also opposed the project, stating that the MEPA board should not even consider it, let alone approve it.
The council welcomed the directorate’s claims that the environmental impact assessment which was drawn up had inaccuracies, noting that it had itself deemed the EIA as completely biased in favour of the developers.
However, it will wait until the final vote to celebrate, and pledged to keep the town’s residents abreast of developments.
The recommendation to vote down the project was also welcomed by environmental NGOs Moviment Ħarsien Ħondoq, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and the Ramblers Association, who in a joint statement said that the report’s conclusion – that the area should become a national park – echoed their own stand ever since the site was earmarked for development.
They also expressed concerns about the heavily biased environmental impact assessment, which claimed that the bay was the most suitable site for a marina even though a report on the development on yachting facilities had not even considered it.
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posted by Hondoq at
10:06 AM
