Hondoq ir-Rummien applicant claims being misled by PA

The developers behind a mega tourist village proposed by the picturesque Gozo seaside at Hondoq ir-Rummien, are claiming they were “misled” by the Planning Authority (PA) in pursuing approval for the application.

The developers, Victor Bajada and his company Gozo Prestige Holidays, are submitting an appeal to the refusal of the unpopular project and demanding that the PA considers new plans that now omitting the yacht marina, a request the PA had repeatedly refused.

“The PA has no right to go back on its commitments, arrived at through its own actions, and after having induced the applicant to incur hundreds of thousands of euros in costs and expenses to comply with the PA’s request for studies,” architect Edward Bencini claimed in the appeal presented to the PA.

The project, which was unanimously turned down last month, was to include a deluxe 5-star hotel with 110 bedrooms, 20 self-catering villas, 60 apartments serviced by the hotel, 203 apartments, 1,249 underground parking spaces, a village centre – which was to include a church and shops – and a yacht marina for approximately 100 to 150 berths.

The project was vehemently opposed by the people of Qala, as well as by Malta’s and Gozo’s environmental organisations.

Gozo Prestige claims that through the 14-year history of the application, it had also responded to “guidance from the Planning Authority, the Planning Directorate and the Environment Protection Directorate”, and that “various successive proposals were prepared and discussed with the PA as part of an iterative process ending with the submission of new drawings with a heavily scaled down building content”.

They also insist that the project follows the local plan for the area approved in 2006.

The local plan policy states that the preferred way forward is “to sensitively develop the area” and that “tourism and marine-related development may be considered by the PA” but only if these are of a “low density and high quality nature which respects the environment.”

In the appeal, the developers took umbrage at the refusal by former PA chief executive officer Ian Stafrace to accept new plans with a revised concept, which excluded the marina but retained the tourist village.

The PA at the time (then the Malta Environment and Planning Authority) argued that this constituted a major change, which could only be considered under a new planning application.

During last month’s meeting, the PA’s present executive chairman, Johann Buttigieg, reiterated his agreement with this position.

The developers also accused the present board of denying them a fair hearing, claiming that they were not given sufficient time to prepare themselves before the decision, and are now asking that the appeals tribunal refer the case back to the PA board.

They also insist on the board assessing the plans, which the PA refused to consider in 2010.

The Hondoq saga: Why did it take 14 years?

The Hondoq project application was filed originally in 2002 shortly after the publication of a draft local plan which referred to the possibility to “limited built development” to finance the considerable expense of developing the quarry where the project would be sited, while stating that the preferred way forward was afforestation and agriculture.

Studies were conducted by the developer to identify whether Hondoq was the best site for a marina. 

The first significant delay took place between the submission of the EIA in 2007, and its certification by MEPA in 2010. 

A report issued by the Environment Protection Directorate (EPD) issued in 2011 blames the EIA coordinator for “the conspicuously lengthy period to reach a certifiable version of the EIS”. 

The EPD attributes this delay to the “prolonged failure by the EIA Coordinator to address the issues in terms of reference of the project, markedly delaying the certification process”. 

In April 2009, the EPD had to issue a final reminder, in which it threatened to stop considering the proposal if changes to the EIS were not presented in two months. 

The first draft of the EIA, which included titles like ‘Yes to the Hondoq ir-Rummien Yacht Marina’, was blasted by the EPD for its poor quality, and its bias in favour of the proposal. 

The EPD also refused to accept a number of reports in the study and requested resubmission by different qualified consultants. 

The second delay occurred between certification and the commencement of a public consultation period.

The year-long delay was attributed to the applicant’s initial opposition to hold a public consultation in Qala.

The EPD insisted that the locality most affected by the development should host the public event. There was also resistance by the owners of appropriate venues in Qala (namely the parish community hall and Qala Primary School) to make their venues available for the public meeting. The council also asked for a six-month period during which it could review the EIS.

While the developers claim that it was the PA which prodded them on to pursue the application in the period between 2002 and 2006, the writing was already on the wall in 2011 when the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s environmental arm – the Environment Protection Directorate – called on the authority to refuse the project. 

MEPA’s Planning Directorate was just about to issue the final case officer report when the developers presented a set of new plans, which retained the residential aspect of the project but dropped the yacht marina, replacing it with a swimming lagoon. 

But the authority told the Hondoq ir-Rummien developers that it would only consider the latest plans if a new application were presented. This decision was appealed. The developers lost the appeal but left it up to the PA board whether to consider new plans or not. The board refused to consider new plans and gave a final refusal. But now the developers have appealed again.

Moreover the political climate had changed.

While former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono had expressed herself in favour of the project before 2008, when asked about the project in 2011 Environment Minister Mario de Marco ominously warned that “our environment is too small to afford to suffer any more mistakes than we have already committed in the past, sometimes even in the name of tourism and progress”.

Labour also remained committed to its opposition to the project and opposition to the project in Qala remained strong, thanks to the tireless campaigning by Labour councillor Paul Buttigieg and Front Harsien Hondoq. Environmentalists have also called on the Authority to change the local plan to exclude the possibility of residential development in the area.