A meeting of the Il-Majjistral Nature and History Park management team will be held this afternoon – about five months after the last meeting and with a representative from the Mellieha Local Council as an official member on the committee for the first time, The Malta Independent has learnt.

Before the Mellieha local council was officially accepted as a member of the management team, the committee consisted of three NGOs, and representatives from the Lands Department, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and the Resources and Rural Affairs Ministry.

Sources said committee members have disagreed on a number of issues, and this is the reason behind the long break between meetings.

One of the controversies was, for instance, the times at which hunting is allowed in the park during the hunting season, although it was finally agreed that hunting would be allowed till 9am.

An issue that is expected to take up a good part of today’s meeting is accessibility to a number of areas, especially because of the large tract of agricultural land in the park.

While some committee members want certain areas to be closed completely to traffic, others insist that farmers need to have access to their fields.

Contacted yesterday, the chairman of the management team, Lija mayor Ian Castaldi Paris, preferred not to comment on the items on the agenda, though he said he would answer questions after today’s meeting.

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