Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1268420
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JULY 2020 NEWS 8 Comino pier at Blue Lagoon resurrected JAMES DEBONO TRANSPORT Malta has started environ- ment impact studies for a 136m-long pier at Blue Lagoon, previously shot down by both Superintendence for Cultural Herit- age and the Environment and Resources Authority. TM said the pier would address the shortfall of mooring facilities in the Blue Lagoon. "The high number of visitors results in heavy boat traffic as these are ferrying passengers to and from the Blue Lagoon." The extended wooden-decked pier will rest on piles embedded in the seabed. TM says the pier will also eliminate make- shift concrete paths. "Large ferry boats currently disembark passengers along this stretch of the coast, and passengers then access the bay via the said structures which are a health and safety hazard, es- pecially for the mobility impaired." TM said the pier will improve passen- ger safety by providing a level surface to access the ferries, apart from removing the concrete passages and restoring the shoreline to its original state. But the pier is also expected to have negative environmental impacts. TM's project development statement warns that the artificial structure along the oth- erwise natural coastline will be visible in views of the Blue Lagoon from the higher grounds around the site. And since the pier will facilitate the mooring of larger ferries, it introduces the risk of having large vessels that will further disturb the views of the Blue La- goon inlet, apart from increased numbers of visitors that disturb the protected or sensitive Natura 2000 habitats and spe- cies. EIA consultants AIS have proposed a capping for boats of various sizes to en- sure the inlet is not over-saturated with JAMES DEBONO AN application by the Malta Tourism Au- thority for the "experimental installation of demountable decking" on 260sq.m of rocky shore at Dawret ix-Xatt in Xghajra has been withdrawn following numerous objections presented by residents. "Xghajra is beautiful because of its raw natural beauty and that is exactly why tourists and locals love the locality…. There is no need to put structures in every nook of the Maltese islands," one resident objecting to the project had said in one of the 50 objections pre- sented. But a similar application in Ta' Xbiex is heading for approval after the Envi- ronment and Resources Authority gave its green light, noting that the proposed structures will be demounted once the summer season is over. The deck- ing will cover a small 136sq.m area of shoreline along Triq ix-Xatt. But ERA's approval for the Ta' Xbiex proposal includes a cautionary note against similar proposals in more eco- logically sensitive areas, adding that similar structures are unacceptable and that "the covering of natural coasts with artificial decking should not be encour- aged." ERA has recommended that such in- terventions are directed toward the re- placement of existing concreted areas on the coast, particularly those that are badly weathered or which currently de- face the natural coast, rather than cov- ering the natural coast. The cautionary note comes in the wake of the DB Group's proposal for the purchase of temporary decking to make a popular rocky beach beyond the Pembroke Athletic football pitch "more accessible", as part of a planning gain for its massive high-rise project on St George's Bay. The 1,000sq.m of natural coastline originally proposed for the Xghajra project is part of a Natura 2000 site. ERA has so far not commented on the Stern warning over decking platform on natural coastline Malta Tourism Authority withdraws 'experimental' decking on Xghajra's rocky shore