The Archaeological Society of Malta expressed satisfaction at the withdrawal of the proposal for the construction of a golf course at Ix-Xaghra il-Hamra and regret at the permit given for development at Ramla l-Hamra in Gozo.

The society congratulated the Rural Affairs and the Environment Ministry and the various NGOs involved in the setting up of Malta’s first nature and heritage park instead of building a golf course.

But regretting the development permit for Ramla l-Hamra, it said this was another area of outstanding natural beauty and part of a landscape that needed to be planned and managed a manner that would retain it as such.

“By (inexplicably) not ordering an Environmental Impact Assessment,” it said, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority had “adopted a narrow and dangerous view. An EIA is not simply a matter of examining the plot itself but of looking at the whole development in relation to a much bigger picture.”

The Archaeological Society said it wished to see the permit revoked pending a proper independent assessment of the impact of the development not just on the archaeology but rather on the entire environment of the area as well as the impact on tourism in the long term.