News • 17 November 2002

The new dream project for Gozo

Architect Edward Bencini speaks to David Lindsay about the proposed Qala Creek development in Gozo and outlines the project’s environmental safeguards, its innovative design and responds to criticisms levelled at the project as the residents of Qala vote in a referendum on the project this weekend

What do the Hilton Hotel, the Mgarr Hotel, the Malta Financial Services Authority building and the proposed Qala Creek development have in common? They have all been designed by architect Edward Bencini.

But while these projects have all broken new ground in their own way, the proposed Lm35-40 million Qala Creek development appears to be the most controversial to date and criticisms have arisen from environmental groups, members of the clergy and the Qala Local Council.

However, Bencini affirms that a number of misconceptions abound over the project, particularly over the beach at Hondoq ir-Rummien. But despite the protestations that have arisen of late, the beach itself and the entire area surrounding the quarry are not included in the development plan and will not be touched by the developers, barring their inclusion in a wide-ranging clean up and rehabilitation plan for the entire area.

The site of the Qala Creek development, which would be completed some three and a half years after approval, lies completely within an abandoned quarry and while Bencini is able to draw a number of similarities between the Hilton development and the Gozo project, he emphasises there is one main difference.

He explains, "The Hilton is a cosmopolitan site, while Qala is a rural site that has been tremendously spoilt, damaged and is in a disastrous state after years of dumping rubbish, household waste, tyres, cars…you name it and it’s down there.

"Of course there can be no doubt about the beauty of the bay, but driving down to it you pass this atrocious eyesore - the Hondoq ir-Rummien quarry.

"There has also been a lot of talk about the impact on the sea and on the beach. The only interest we have in the public areas around the development itself is to rehabilitate and landscape them properly. Rather than the shambles the area is in today it will be made into a nice area with barbecue facilities, benches, tables and all the furnishings required for people to really enjoy themselves.

"The road leading down to the beach will virtually follow the same road that exists today. We will just widen it in places to have a constant width throughout and resolve issues of banking, slopes and gradients so access to the beach will become easier.

"Access to the development is from high ground and does not pass through this road, which we are leaving for the people that frequent the beach."

Bencini explains how the developers plan to rehabilitate the quarry in such a way that it will fit into the landscape, ensuring that at no point will the building rise higher than the quarry walls behind it.

Bencini explains, "We are going to create a tourist/residential village that wraps around two of the quarry walls and overlooks the marina, very much like Italy’s picturesque Porto Cervo.

"So all along the back end of the development there will be the quarry face, which rises up from a height of five to 13 floors. The building itself will be constructed rising up against the quarry face and pushed against it, terraced as you go up, but nowhere will it rise above the height of the quarry."

But while the development itself will be limited to the dilapidated quarry, the outskirts of the proposed project will also be embellished through a number of initiatives being suggested by the developers.

These include restoring the 25 tumoli to the east of the quarry into an agro-farm by rebuilding the collapsed rubble walls and reinstating sufficient quantities of agricultural soil.

The other side of the quarry hosts some 15 tumoli of garigue, also in poor condition and which will be cleaned up with the help of specialists.

Bencini adds, "If Nature Trust would be interested we would be very glad to have their advice as well. We are aware that Nature Trust and others have declared themselves against the project. We have had meetings with them, Friends of the Earth and Din L-art Helwa, during which we explained the project to them and we always remain disposed to give further explanations and to hold more meetings with them.

"We realise that these groups are important contributors toward Malta’s environmental issues. However, we feel that they haven’t quite understood the scope behind the development and we are always prepared to involve them at a later stage when, as we hope, this development will go forward.

Bencini explains there are a number of other similar measures on the drawing board, such as a heritage trail that would run from the development to the redoute of the historical Sant Antnin, which has fallen into a bad state of repair and which the developers are proposing to turn into a cultural/educational centre.

Bencini explains, "Again, this will be done with the advice of specialists such as Nature Trust or MEPA, who will advise us on the best route to take for the passage.

"The route is included in the draft local plan for the area and we are prepared to do that as one of the 11 policies included in the local plan that we will be financing as part of this development.

"The important thing here is that the nature trail would give access to two very large and attractive rocky beaches that are at present almost inaccessible by foot and can only be reached by sea.

"So it’s not a question of, as some people are saying, that we are going to do anything to spoil the beach at Hondoq ir-Rummien.

"On the contrary, what we are going to be doing is ensuring that the beach is improved and that we make additional beaches accessible that today are inaccessible to the general public.

"There have been a number of articles pointing out that the project is being deliberately misinterpreted by members of the clergy and even by the local council itself and, unfortunately, this is the truth.

"The first public debate on the project, on 10 August, was hijacked by members of the clergy assisted by around 30 noisy locals who were banging chairs and making all kinds of unruly noises. They just didn’t allow the discussion to take place."

"There are all kinds of moral coercion taking place in the lead up to a referendum on the project, which in an election would be tantamount to coercive practices.

"This whole referendum has been thrown into tremendous doubt. It is hard to imagine how any referendum manipulated by members of the clergy and of the local council in this manner could have any impact on the project, which has been approved by the Malta Tourism Authority, encouraged by the Malta Maritime Authority and which has been manipulated by a very small group of people."

Bencini stresses that the site itself, which consists exclusively of a quarry, is not a green field site, but all around it is, in fact, a green area.

Bencini explains, "The structure plan cites that rehabilitation projects for quarries will be considered and the draft local plan for Gozo actually argues in the policy related to this particular quarry that it is a tremendous eyesore and that something has to be done to remove it.

"Furthermore, the 6,500 square metres of public area, excluding the beach, will remain 6,500 square metres of public area once the project is developed.

"However, the footprint of unrestricted public access will be increased enormously. The public beach area will remain the same as it has always been and the beach itself will not be modified in any way, except for a cleaning up.

"But then there will be nearly a kilometre’s length of public promenade around the waterfront, all the stairways, pjazzas, public zones within the village and the commercial outlets.

"Hotels today, apart from the private rooms themselves, are public areas so really the entire zone is going to be a public area. As such, what is happening is that from the 6,500 square metres of public area today, you’re ending up with 65,000 square metres of public area tomorrow."

Another bone of contention being put forward is the extraction of the remaining hard stone from the abandoned quarry.

To which Bencini replies, "There are policies within the structure plan that insist any hard stone still remaining in the quarry need to be extracted. After carrying out geological tests at the quarry, we found there is a lot of it – about 500,000 to 600,000 cubic metres of first quality hard stone.

"Just forgetting this resource and covering the quarry would run contrary to policies of sustainable development and of the structural plan. The latter requires that prior to rehabilitating a quarry you first have to salvage any usable stone and then develop the area.

"Along these lines, we will be extracting 100 per cent of the remaining stone and a bit more, as we will dig just below sea level in order to eventually let the marina in once the construction phase of the project is completed."

Bencini also addresses criticism over the effect of the construction phase of the project on nearby Qala. He explains, "One of the first things to be built when we start work on the site will be a wharf large enough to accommodate large craft to be filled with the hard stone we are to excavate. Almost all the 600,000 cubic metres of hard stone will be transported from this wharf to Cirkewwa for storage in quarries in Malta.

"So really all the transport of quarry stone, apart from that which will remain in Gozo, will not pass over the roads of Gozo. We will also be using this quay so that all the building materials coming over from Malta will not arrive via Mgarr, but will come straight to the site’s quay without passing through the streets of Qala.

"We are looking in great detail at all these impacts and we will responsibly carry all costs of mitigating each and every one. We have carried out 13 studies with independent experts who looked into issues such as the present marine climate in the area, hydrology, land and sea ecology and the development’s potential impact on land and water.

What about the traffic impact once the development is up and running, I ask.

"There will be an impact and we cannot fool ourselves that there won’t be as there will be a community of some 800 residents when you consider the hotel, the residents in the village and the marina residents and some workers. Having said that, there is going to be some additional traffic but this is something that will have to be addressed during the environmental impact assessment. If we need to have some road widening, a one way traffic system, traffic lights/management or ultimately even a bypass and we will, of course be willing to take up any such recommendations."

Bencini adds, "The project isn’t just about putting in a beautiful village, but it’s about doing it properly and in a way that is going to be beneficial to the Maltese and Gozitan economy.

"We will be creating 400 jobs and the multiplier effect it will have on the Gozitan economy is probably immeasurable.

"When you think about it, it’s not just about the jobs that will be generated, but it’s also about the kind of first class tourism that will be generated for Gozo, over and above what is happening today. This goes hand in hand with the lifting of the standards of tourism and the satisfying of the niche market.

"The positive impact is immeasurable and the multiplier effect will be far, far more than the Lm35 to Lm40 million being spent on the project, since after that people will be spending additional millions at the site and in Gozo. This counts much more than the jobs created or the developer’s investment."