Like so many people in Malta (or who live abroad but are very attached to Malta through family ties and/or for other reasons), and as a member of the Ramblers’ Association of Malta, I am aware that an application was recently submitted to MEPA (5277/96) to build “Malta’s first heritage park and multi-ownership tourist hotel development… ” at Ta’Cenc in Gozo

The term quoted is a huge self-contradiction: how can the developer talk in the same breath of 1) Malta’s heritage and 2) the building of a hotel owned mostly by foreigners on land which will be out of bounds to the public? This application is nothing more than a devious plan for a building complex in an ODZ – Outside Development Zone. Apart from an extension to the existing hotel and the building of a new one, the plans include the building of 49 bungalows and 67 villas. All of these buildings and ancillary activities will cause irreparable damage to the garigue and the flora and fauna that exist within the ecosystem of the area, to say nothing of the visual aspect of such a “development”.

This development is in a strictly ODZ area where there should never be any form of “development” as per Structure Plan policies. Also, according to MEPA: “Only 53.8 per cent of residences in Gozo are occupied all the year. A further 5,500 plots are available within the Development Zone. This is more than three times that required.” On the basis of the above two facts alone, MEPA should reject this application outright.

The Ta’Cenc cliffs are important nesting sites for many types of birds, including the largest colony of Cory’s shearwater in the Mediterranean.

These colonies are disturbed by human presence and light pollution. The proposed Sannat Hotel is in close proximity to the cliff edge and will seriously disturb the bird colonies, as well as destroying the scenic beauty of this part of the Maltese Islands, something which we and future generations will be deprived of.

Ta’Cenc is one of the few remaining unspoilt open spaces in all of the Maltese Islands. Is this beautiful site, like so many others before it, to be erased in the name of “development”? And when will “developers” stop coming up with applications that seem intended to destroy the very reason why Gozo is so appealing? We all know that the reason for their insistence is short-term gain for themselves, and that they have absolutely no regard for the long-term losses for everyone else, including the generations to come.

With all these arguments in mind, one can only trust that MEPA will not fail in its duty by giving in to such a blatantly vandalistic application.

Tony Marsh

Sceaux

FRANCE