SOS Hondoq News

Monday, February 13, 2012

Il-proġett f’ħondoq ir-Rummien fil-Qala

Pubblikata fuq l-Orizzont minn John Pisani.


L-iżviluppaturi mitlubin jippreżentaw il-pjanti l-ġodda

Il-Bord tal-Appell tal-MEPA ordna lill-iżviluppaturi tal-pro­ġett ta’ Ħondoq ir-Rummien fil-Qala, Għawdex, biex jissottomettu l-pjanti l-ġodda pe­ress li dawk ippreżentati huma totalment differenti mill-pjan­ti oriġinali. Dan ġie deċiż meta kien qed jinstema’ l-appell li għamlu l-iżviluppaturi mal-Bord tal-Appell tal-MEPA.
Is-Sindku tal-Qala, Paul But­tigieg, qal lill-ġurnalisti li l-problema hija li l-iżviluppaturi ppreżentaw disinni ġodda fuq il-proġett ta’ Ħondoq ir-Rummien iżda dawn id-disinni l-ġodda jvarjaw ħafna mill-pjan­ti oriġinali li kienu bagħtu fil-bidu.
Għaldaqstant il-MEPA qiegħda toġġezzjona minħabba li tant sar tibdil li ma jis­tgħux jippreżentaw il-pjanti l-ġodda u jridu japplikaw mill-ġdid.
“Issa hemm din il-kwistjoni legali bejn il-MEPA u l-iżvi­lup­paturi jekk dawn għandhomx jerġgħu japplikaw mill-ġdid jew inkella dawn il-pjanti l-ġodda li ssottomettew humiex validi jew le,” qalilna s-Sindku Buttigieg.
Min-naħa tiegħu l-Kunsil­lier Pawlu Buttigieg qalilna li hemm bosta affarijiet diffe­renti, speċjalment il-laguna. Barra minn hekk issa talbu biex iwaqqgħu d-distillatur li mhux magħruf jekk għandhomx l-approvazzjoni tal-awtoritajiet. Talbu wkoll biex il-parkeġġ tal-karozzi jkun iktar ’il ġewwa u se jkun hemm spazju għal 90 vettura meta f’Ħondoq ir-Rummien ikun hemm iktar minn 300 karozza. Huwa qal li l-iżviluppaturi ppreżentaw disinni artistiċi tal-parkeġġ u mhux kif inhuma l-pjanti.
Il-każ se jkompli jinstema’ quddiem il-Bord tal-Appell tal-MEPA fit-22 ta’ Mejju, 2012, f’12.00 p.m.

posted by Hondoq at 3:02 PM

Friday, February 03, 2012

Ħondoq appeal hearing postponed


Published on the Times of Malta on Thursday, 2nd February, 2012 by Juan Ameen. 
The appeal hearing contesting the planning authority’s refusal to accept new plans for the controversial Ħondoq Ir-Rummien project was postponed by three months.
The change of date revolves around a legal issue created by a fresh set of plans submitted by the developers, who are proposing to replace the planned yacht with a swimming lagoon.
The authority had refused to accept the updated plans and said these had to be submitted through a new application, prompting an appeal from the developers of the €120 million project.
Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg, a registered objector, said the new plans even included the demolition of the distillation plant in the area.
The project to build a five-star hotel, 285 flats and villas, 731 underground parking spaces,10 shops and five restaurants had been slammed by Mepa’s environment unit and several environmental groups.
The environmental groups are calling for the Ħondoq area to be converted into a national park, run by the council, and rehabilitated into an open space for everyone as originally earmarked in the area’s local plans.
An online petition urging the planning authority to turn down the project has attracted more than 4,000 signatures. The petition can be found on: http://raxerri.com/soshondoq .
To view the photo and comments, go to  

posted by Hondoq at 5:18 PM

Qala Creek project appeal decision postponed on legal issue


Published on www.gozonews.com on Wednesday. 1st February, 2012. 
The MEPA board hearing of an appeal by the developers of the proposed Hondoq project, has now been postponed
The hearing, which was due to be heard on Tuesday morning was postponed due to a legal issue and both MEPA and the developers have to respond within two months
The plans, which originally included the development of a large hotel, real estate units and a yacht marina, brought a public outcry. The developers then dropped the idea of the marina, limiting themselves to a ‘swimming lagoon’ for the proposed Qala Creek project.
MEPA has said that these amendments must be submitted in a new application. The postponement has been made to allow time for both MEPA and the developers of the proposed Qala Creek Project to respond on legal issues.
Environmental NGOs Moviment Harsien Hondoq, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Ramblers Association, FOE Malta, Nature Trust, GUG, Din l-art helwa and Wirt Ghawdex, said in October 2011, that they had studied the 2009 EIS Co-ordinated Report where the developers themselves stated “the project would struggle if it had to be developed as a stand-alone hotel.” They say that the “project is expected to double the 5-star room capacity in Gozo, despite the current demand for five-star hotel properties in Gozo being weak.”
Both the environment unit and Transport Malta had recommended that the application be turned down.
The NGOs had urged MEPA to refuse such a project and to revert the land to its original designation as a nature park.
The Qala Local Council had said previously “that it had already investigated the various aspects of creating an environment and heritage park, a project that would draw much-needed tourists to Gozo, and support existing hotels and catering establishments.”
The SOS Hondoq petition is available for signing by Clicking Here.

posted by Hondoq at 5:16 PM

Ħondoq ir-Rummien appeal hearing put off


Published on the Malta Independent on Wednesday, 1st February, 2012 by Annaliza Borg. 
The Ħondoq ir-Rummien proposed development appeal hearing was yesterday put off to 22 May, after new designs for the project were presented and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said that both could not be accepted at this stage of proceedings.
Mepa is insisting the new designs vary much from the ones on which the appeal is based so it is insisting that a new application should be filed.
The lawyers representing the developers, and Mepa, are to present submissions in writing on a legal point regarding whether the significantly revised plans can be accepted or not. These notes are to be presented within two months.
The developers aim to build a five-star hotel, 285 villas and flats, 10 shops and five restaurants, with what was originally a 150-boat marina being changed into a proposed swimming lagoon. Plans were first submitted in 2002.
Environmental groups have called for the picturesque area to be turned into a national park to be run by Qala local council.
One main bone of contention in the project, the yacht marina, has been eliminated, in favour of the lagoon in the reworked plans.
Another new proposal is to have the distillation plant, of which only a small part is used, removed and turned into a car park.

posted by Hondoq at 5:09 PM

Hondoq developers want to remove planned yacht marina

Published on the Times of Malta on Tuesday, 31st January, 2012.
The planning appeal hearing on the €120 million development of a tourist complex in Hondoq Ir-Rummien, due to be held today, was postponed to May to allow Mepa and the developers to give replies over a legal issue.
The legal issue revolves around a fresh set of plans by the developers, who are proposing to remove the planned yacht marina and replace it with a swimming lagoon.
Mepa had refused to  accept the amendments, saying these needed to be submitted under a new application.
On hearing this, the developers appealed.

posted by Hondoq at 5:01 PM

Would-be Ħondoq ir-Rummien developers appeal Tuesday


Published on the Malta Independent on Sunday, 29th January, 2012. 
The developers proposing the Qala Creek project at Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo will have their appeal against the rejection of the project’s new plans heard by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa) on Tuesday.
The developers had axed plans for one of the project’s main bones of contention, the yacht marina, in favour of a so-called swimming lagoon – reworked plans that had been refused and that will be the subject of Tuesday’s appeal.
Environmental groups Moviment Ħarsien Hondoq, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Ramblers Association, Friends of the Earth Malta, Nature Trust, GUG, Din l-Art Ħelwa and Wirt Għawdex have contested the new plans on the basis that the developer’s 2009 report had insisted on the yacht marina as, the report said: “The project would struggle if it had to be developed as a stand-alone hotel” – without the accompanying yacht marina.
As such, the NGOs had urged Mepa to reject the project and “to allow the land to revert to its original designation as a nature park”.
Qala Local Council, they say, has already looked into the various aspects of creating an environment and heritage park, a project they insist would draw tourists to Gozo and at the same support the existing hotels and catering establishments.
The NGOs pointed out that while the disputed project is expected to double Gozo’s five-star room capacity, the fact of the matter is that current demand for five-star hotel accommodation in Gozo is weak.
“The developers stressed the point that increased room capacity (oversupply) is of major concern to the market, and to be successful the hotel needs to be part of an integrated project with features that differentiate between it and other hotels, ie the marina, thus ‘the hotel will depend on demand generated by other parts of the project’,” said the NGOs.
Mepa rejected the new application some two months ago on a technicality: that the new plans had to be submitted in a new application because they went beyond the site footprint listed in the original application.
The developers aim to build a five-star hotel, 285 villas and flats, 10 shops and five restaurants, with what was originally a 150-boat marina being changed into a proposed swimming lagoon.
Environmental groups have called for the picturesque area to be turned into a national park to be run by Qala Local Council.

posted by Hondoq at 4:57 PM