An appeal against the refusal of a massive planning application at Ħondoq Bay has been rejected by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.
The refusal brings to an end a five-year appeal period and a planning process which has lasted for 20 years.
The Ħondoq saga dates back to 2002, when a huge area was acquired from the government by Victor Bajada’s Gozo Prestige, with a planning application having been filed to turn the area into a port and yacht marina along with a 195 bedroom hotel and 300 apartments.
In 2006, the then-Nationalist Government had decided in Cabinet, and behind the backs of the village’s local council, to change the status of Ħondoq bay in the Gozo Local Plan from one where it was in ODZ as an afforestation, to one which would consider “tourism and marine-related development.”
The application for the marina, and what is effectively a whole new village along with it, was rejected by the Planning Authority, but an appeal filed in 2016 had been ongoing ever since.
The project has been subject to a strong campaign of opposition, spearheaded by Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg who also called for the area to be re-zoned as an ODZ.
The EPRT issued its decision on the appeal on Thursday, stating that the appeal which had been filed by Gozo Prestige had been refused.
The initial application had been refused for a number of reasons: namely because it went against the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), counter to the scale which is considered acceptable by the Gozo and Comino local plan, and because it was incompatible with the natural characteristics of the area, amongst other reasons.
The applicant argued however that he was denied the possibility of a fair hearing by the Planning Authority by not having enough time to prepare for the 2016 hearing on the case; because the Planning Board refused to allow the applicant to present fresh plans; and because, according to the applicant, MEPA had made various commitments regarding the proposed developments.
The EPRT however denied every point on the appeal filed, with the decision being made final on Thursday.
The online sitting was well attended, and upon the reading out of the decision, lawyer Claire Bonello unmuted her microphone to say “That’s it, we won Paul.”
She was addressing Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg who has been at the forefront of the opposition for the project for a number of years and who was also present in the meeting.
Buttigieg took to Facebook to share a few simple words: “Hondoq saved… appeal refused.” He also thanked Bonello and those who had supported the campaign over the past 20 years.
Buttigieg has in the past also advocated for the area to be re-zoned as an Outside Development Zone, thereby protecting it from development for good.
The PL’s electoral manifesto for last March’s election pledged that: “A Labour government has always been clear regarding the safeguarding of Ħondoq ir-Rummien. We assure that this zone will not be developed in any way whilst we see that works will be done to make the bay a nicer place so it can offer a better environment for those who visit.”
Previous calls for the area to be re-zoned however had been unsuccessful with the government citing possible legal issues if the zoning had to be changed while there were still pending applications or appeals on the land.