Developers say Ħondoq is worth €24 million as PA rejects claim they will lose property rights

The Planning Authority has shot down claims by Gozo Prestige Limited that changes to the local plan limiting development in Hondoq ir-Rummien to afforestation, have robbed them of acquired property rights. 

The company’s claim is based on the old local plan, which allowed tourism development in the site of the disused quarry. Gozo Prestige says the proposed changes to the Gozo local plan diminishes the value of their property. 

The company whose proposal to develop a tourist village and yacht marina was turned down for being in breach of the existing local plan is claiming the land is now valued at a whopping  €24 million. 

The owners declared their opposition to the proposed changes arguing this entitles them “to property rights” that will be denied in the new plans. 

In their submission on the new local plan that is subject to a fresh round of public consultation, the developers also revealed that they are working on a new proposal. 

But the PA has shot down these objections arguing that since “no  development permissions have been issued on the area, the review does not remove any acquired development rights”. 

This may create a precedent for changes in the local plan in other areas, with the PA arguing that development rights derive from development permits and not from the local plan itself. 

The draft policy by the Planning Authority makes it clear that the disused quarry in Hondoq ir-Rummien should only be used for afforestation while specifically forbidding any additional beach facilities, new commercial facilities and the intensification of the existing commercial coastal facilities.   

The only development to be permitted consists in the upgrading of the existing quay and  slipway. 

This has allayed fears expressed by environmentalists following the publication of vague policy objectives last year, which split the area into two zones regulated by different policies. But the draft policy excludes any new commercial development in both areas. 

The proposed local plan will bring an end to the two-decades-old saga at Hondoq ir-Rummien that saw environmental activists and Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg push back repeatedly against plans to turn the idyllic location into a luxury village.