Environmental impact on White Rocks redevelopment to be carried out - Ministry

The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change said that the White Rocks redevelopment will be subject to the “necessary assessment procedures”.

Earlier this week, NGOs Din l-Art Helwa and Nature Trust Malta wrote to the Environment Minister, Leo Brincat, requesting him to promote and initiate any required ecological studies on the area indicated as Zone 2 in the 1995 White Rocks Development Brief. The NGOs noted that this area is directly adjacent to the existing Pembroke Natura 2000 site and that its scheduling would enable it to be managed as an extension of this protected site. The area is characterised by a large variety of endemic and rare plants, they said.

And in a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry said that “proposals for the redevelopment of the White Rocks areas will be subjected to the necessary assessment procedures to identify the potential environmental impacts arising from them, should a proposal be selected.”

“An appropriate assessment would be required as per regulatory provisions, since the White Rocks area is adjacent to a special Area of Conservation also known as a Natura 2000 site.”

The Ministry said that the assessment will identify whether the selected proposal will ensure that the favourable conservation status of the existing Natura 2000 site is maintained, and it will also recommend actions in this regard.