The public has until 14 August to make its views known about the latest version of the proposed development at Ta’ Cenc in Gozo. This has prompted Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo to say: “Yet another project outside development zone is being reluctantly exposed to public scrutiny.

“The slow attrition on the Ta’ Cenc project since 1996 has exhausted the public and civil society organisations that have had to battle revision after revision of a project that should have been put out of its misery many years ago”.

Originally the proposal was for 106 villas. But it is “still more than three times bigger than the Ramla atrocity, but its advocates seem to hope that they can haggle about ODZ development with the persistence of flea market operators, especially since the aftermath of the present consultation will lead to a final decision being taken in the media chaos of an election campaign,” said Dr Vassallo.

John Mizzi, an AD councillor on Sannat local council, said the technical reports were available to anyone who would like to scrutinise the environmental impact statement and copies of the application and plans, at the council office in Sannat, the offices of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in Floriana and in Victoria, as well as on the Mepa website.

Anyone who wishes to make representations about this application should write to the Director of Environment Protection, Mepa, or email [email protected] copied to the local council on [email protected] by the eve of Santa Maria, 14 August.