The Naxxar local council has been waiting almost two years for the government to implement a “national plan for caravans” to address the number of caravans that show up at Bahar ic-Caghaq and Salini on the coast road.

Naxxar local council unanimously approved a bye-law that would ban the permanent parking of caravans and camper vans in Bahar ic-Caghaq on the Cost Road, which was presented to former local government Minister Jose Herrera in May 2021, for it to be published in the government gazette.

“With regards to the rejected bye-law, we were originally told that the Government was working on a national plan for caravans,” Naxxar mayor Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami told The Malta Independent said which was what the government said almost two years ago.

In August 2021, Herrera told The Malta Independent, that the government has initiated a process for creating “balanced” nationwide regulations for caravan sites across the island.

When responding to parliamentary questions about this situation put forward by PN MP Albert Buttigieg, Local Government Minister Owen Bonnici and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo both said that discussions are ongoing.

Asked about this, Muscat Fenech Adami said that the last meeting with the government happened two weeks ago.

Asked whether the government has identified any alternative sites and whether the council has proposed alternative sites for the caravans, she said: “The Council has not yet officially proposed any alternative sites although in principle the Council was not against the selected site. Council’s objection was based on a lack of consultation, and the design itself since there were no plans for any amenities expected in a proper caravan site and neither there were any plans for its proper management. Other sites are still being considered.”

Last July, the government suspended a planning application which was put forwards by Infrastructure Malta that would have turned the place into a temporary caravan sight.

Bartolo said this is being done to work on a holistic strategy. The strategy is intended to limit conflicts between various potential uses of recreational land. He said that it is also intended to control the effects of such use of recreational land to reduce their impact on the environment.