Appeals tribunal turns Hondoq applicants appeal on amended plans

Published on MaltaToday on Thursday 2nd May, 2013.

The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) today upheld a decision by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, to refuse an appeal by Gozo Prestige for the on the processing of the planning application for the Hondoq ir-Rummien project.

The appeal, which was made by the applicant in December 2011, related to a letter the applicant received from the directorate informing them that their newly submitted plans for the Hondoq project - submitted without an initially-proposed marina but including only a hotel and adjacent luxury apartments - constituted a material change and altered the nature of the existing application.

The changes merited that a new application is submitted for MEPA's consideration, which Gozo Prestige disagreed with.

MEPA also said that the processing of the existing application had been nearly finalised, with the environment impact assessment report having already been published.

In its appeal, MEPA said that Gozo Prestige could not appeal at this stage from correspondence from the authority to the applicant, and could only appeal after a final decision by the MEPA Board. This was upheld by the Tribunal.

To view the comments, go to http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Appeals-tribunal-turns-Hondoq-applicants-appeal-on-amended-plans-20130502