Hondoq Project appeal to be heard by MEPA Board today

The MEPA Board appeal hearing which was postponed from October the 16th 2012, is to be held later today on the proposed Hondoq ir-Rummein – Qala Creek project application.

The first appeal hearing, which was originally due to take place in February 2012, was postponed due to a legal issue and both MEPA and the developers had to respond within two months and was due to be heard last May, it was then postponed again, until October 2012.

The plans, which had 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 had said that these amendments must be submitted in a new application. The original postponement was then made to allow time for both MEPA and the developers of the proposed Qala Creek Project to respond on legal issues.

At a press conference in February at Xaghra, prior to the March General Elections the now Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat was questioned on the Labour Party’s plans for the enviornment, particularly the proposals for Hondoq. He stated that the “Labour Party was opposed to the yacht marina and hotel project at Hondoq.” He also said that a Labour Government had no plans on a project at Ta’ Cenc which included bungalows.

Environmental NGOs said recently that MEPA’s Appeals Tribunal is to decide whether they will accept the new Hondoq proposal without a new EIA being submitted.

“85% of Qala’s residents voted against the project, over 4400 people signed a petition against it” and in a joint statement by NGO’s Moviment Harsien Hondoq, FAA, Nature Trust, Ramblers, Friends of the Earth and,Din L-art Helwa they appealed to the MEPA Board to refuse the appeal for the Hondoq proposal, saying they “are against any sort of development at Hondoq.”

The NGOs said that “in the first project proposal, the developers had placed great emphasis on the fact that the marina was to be the unique attraction that would attract people to stay in the hotel and make it viable, in what is a weak market for 5 star hotels. They also said that 200 apartments were necessary to make the project viable.

“In the new proposal there is no marina to attract people to the hotel, and only 143 apartments therefore if the developers are to be believed, this new proposal cannot be viable.”

The Church’s Environment Commission in a recent statement had said “It is the view of the Commission that the proposed Hondoq project is not sustainable and it was difficult to see how it justified a better quality of life for the Gozitans in the long term.

“The project will not serve to preserve the identity of the landscape and the beauty of the surroundings, which is the main attraction (principal assets) that draw visitors to Gozo.

“The existing quarry area needs to be cleaned up and rehabilitated, there is a danger that the land is being used as an excuse for land speculation without regard to the tourism product that Gozo offers.”

Both the environment unit and Transport Malta had also previously recommended that the application be turned down.

Zminijietna, the ‘Voice of the Left,’ also said that it has “joined in the call for the MEPA Environment and Planning Tribunal to reject Thursday’s appeal for the Hondoq ir-Rummien Project.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Qala Local Council issued a statement saying that it remains consistent in its position as it has it has done during the last eleven years, i.e. “that it is against the Qala Creek Project.”

The Council said that it believes that such development of Hondoq is not sustainable and would not be of any benefit to the people of Qala.

The Council added that it still believes that there is an opportunity for the regeneration of this area as a natural park.

Many, many letters have been sent to Gozo News over the years, appealing for the MEPA Board to refuse the proposed Hondoq ir-Rummein – Qala Creek project application. Will that long awaited decision finally be made today?