SOS Hondoq News

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Ħondoq project appeal put off


Published on the Times of Malta on Wednesday, 23rd May, 2012.
An appeal hearing contesting the planning authority’s refusal to accept new plans for the controversial Ħondoq Ir-Rummien project has been postponed again, this time to October.
Lawyer Michael Sciriha and architect Edward Bencini, for the developer, yesterday asked the appeals board for more time to submit legal documents contesting the decision to refute a set of fresh plans.
The updated proposals replace the planned yacht marina with a swimming lagoon. The Malta Environment and Planning Authority ruled these had to be submitted through a new application, prompting an appeal by the €120 million project developer.
The appeals board accepted the request for more time and put off the hearing to October 16, when “submissions will be heard and then the case will go for a decision, come what may”, chairman Chris Falzon said.
This is the second postponement as a similar request was made in January.
Qala councillor Paul Buttigieg, a registered objector, said the developer had had enough time to make submissions: “People have been waiting 10 years for a decision to be made on this project.”
The project to build a five-star hotel, 285 flats and villas, 731 underground parking spaces, 10 shops and five restaurants had been criticised by Mepa’s environment unit and environmental groups.
The groups are calling for the Ħondoq area to serve as a council-run national park 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 at http://raxerri.com/soshondoq .