Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1380662
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JUNE 2021 NEWS IN 2002, the company Gozo Prestige, owned by Gozitan businessmen Victor Bajada, presented an application for the construction of a destination port and 195-room hotel, 200-yacht marina and a tourist village for 300 apartments. The land had been sold to the developers by the Augustinian order. The Order sold the land on promise of sale to Bajada in 1988 for Lm10,200 (€23,760) – on condition that full de- velopment permits were awarded. The promise of sale states that if development permission for the land is granted, the Order will receive the full sale price of Lm10,000 (€23,294) per tumulo and at 68 tumuli, the total sale price amounting to Lm680,000 (€1,583,974). But the draft for the Gozo local plan, issued for public consultation in 2002, never made any reference to tourist de- velopment in Ħondoq. It limited itself to saying that MEPA would consider pro- posals from public agencies to upgrade beach facilities at Ħondoq ir-Rummien. Any envisaged development was limited to the rehabilitation of the quarry, the provision of basic beach amenities and unrestricted public access to the beach. A new Gozo local plan, approved in 2006, facilitated the approval of a tourism project, referring to "tourism and marine related uses" and "sensitively designed, high quality and low density buildings that blend into the landscape". Ħondoq was identified as the site of a "destination port" – a euphemism for a yacht marina. Indeed the authors of a project develop- ment statement for the developers imme- diately after the publication of the local plan referred to the delay between 2002 and 2006 as "four years of pro-active con- sultation" with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. So while MEPA was consulting with the developer, no public consultation was conducted on the changes made in the local plan. The developers made bold claims as to their development being an environmen- tally friendly one. Through landscaping they promised to create the perception that the project was the "work of nature itself" and to create the impression that the new village had "evolved organically over the last century". Clearly, back then the wind was in their sail, to the extent that even Gozo Minis- ter Giovanna Debono described the Ħon- doq project as beneficial to Gozo. But the goalposts changed after 2008. Facing an uphill election, the PN suc- cessfully reinvented itself as a more en- vironmentally-friendly party. Upon being re-elected, Lawrence Gonzi even declared a zero-tolerance stance towards ODZ de- velopment. For environmentalists, Ħon- doq became the litmus test for the seri- ousness of the government's intentions. Moreover, the project contrasted with the PN's own eco-Gozo vision. In August 2011, MEPA's environmen- tal arm – the Environment Protection Directorate – called on the authority to refuse the project. MEPA's Planning Di- rectorate was just about to issue its final case officer report, when the developers presented new plans dropping the mari- na, replacing it with a swimming lagoon and retaining the residential aspect of the project. But MEPA insisted that it could not consider new plans at this stage, insisting that a brand new application was needed. The Labour opposition was also com- mitted against the project. But no final decision was taken about the project be- fore the change in government in 2013. In 2016, following a 14-year long saga, the PA unanimously refused the appli- cation for the Ħondoq ir-Rummien de- velopment – 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 in- clude a church and shops – and a yacht marina for approximately 100 to 150 berths. The Ħondoq development was deemed by the Planning Directorate to be in breach of the Strategic Plan for the En- vironment and Development as it consti- tuted "a dense urban development" in a "coastal rural area." It was also in breach of the SPED's vision of Gozo as an "eco- logical island." But the developers refused to give up and appealed. "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 thou- sands 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 Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. Surprisingly two years later the Envi- ronment and Planning Review Tribunal decided to send the controversial appli- cation back to the Planning Authority, after they found a procedural mistake in the handling of the case. But this ruling was overruled by the law courts following another appeal by the Planning Authority. The case was reverted back to the EPRT, which still has to take a final decision. BACKSTORY How Hondoq was underhandedly earmarked for tourism CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The company originally acquired the land from the Dominican Order for just €23,000 (Lm10,000) in 1988, at a full sale price of €1.5 million should the company be awarded a develop- ment permit for its yacht marina. At the rate of valuation, Gozo Pres- tige Holidays would stand to have a return of 11 times over its original purchase price. But since its attempts at obtaining planning permission, Gozo Prestige has always failed in obtaining his cov- eted permit. Indeed, in the letter sent to the Maltese government, the company acknowledged that its project faced considerable opposition from various quarters; and also passed non-judge- mental observations about political proposals to expropriate the land so as to return it to the public. The company is being represented by lawyer Carmelo Galea, who forms part of another company that took control of vast swathes of land in Qala and Nadur through a feudal title claimed through the lineage of the Stagno Navarra family. In the communication to the gov- ernment, Galea attached a valuation by architect Edward Bencini of €17 million due to its unique siting for high-end tourism, and the reference to tourism development made in the Gozo & Comino Local Plan, tagging it at a price of €400 per square metre on the open market. The total site is over 42,000 square metres. In the letter to the government, Galea insisted that while the land was devel- opable under the terms of the Gozo & Comino Local Plan of 2006, the com- pany could consider requesting some form of financial compensation for the expenses it incurred throughout its unsuccessful planning saga and the loss of value to the land. Indeed, Galea said the company would take all legal measures neces- sary and take the case right up to the European Court of Human Rights. But he said Gozo Prestige was open to a discussion on transferring the land to the State upon fair compensa- tion. Gozo Prestige threatens legal action over unsuccessful planning saga A valuation by architect Edward Bencini found that due to its unique siting for high-end tourism, and the reference to tourism development made in the Gozo & Comino Local Plan, the land was now worth €17 million