Company wants to build tourist development in disused quarry

A Gozo company has filed an application to build a five-star residential tourist development in a disused quarry in Qala owned by the company.

A spokesman for Gozo Prestige Holidays, the applicant company, said the project would not impinge on the bay at Hondoq ir-Rummien.

On the contrary, the spokesman said, there were plans to clean up the entire area and preserve the undisturbed portion of the land, which is made up of garigue and old terraced fields.

The proposed development is inspired by the "hanging garden" effect of the villages of the Italian Amalfitano coast, particularly Positano and Capri.

An application was submitted to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for the lowering of the quarry depth over a short period in the rough weather months, with the stone to be used for the project itself and the rest stockpiled.

The lowering of the quarry to sea level would allow scope for the creation of a yacht marina and berths for local fishermen and day trippers.

An environmental impact assessment is being carried out.

However, the spokesman said that an e-mail petition currently doing the rounds against the development of a yacht marina at Hondoq ir-Rummien was based on a fundamental misconception.

"We want to make it clear that the project plans are confined to private land, and to the already disturbed quarry site," the spokesman said.

He said a meeting had already been held with Nature Trust to clarify this, and meetings would also be held with other environment groups.

"We plan to create nature trails for eco-tourism, with discreet signage describing flora and fauna," the spokesman said.

The trails, although on private land, would be open to the public and the company was also committing itself to the restoration of St Anthony's Redoubt and the chapel of Il-Madonna Tal-Blat in consultation with heritage specialists if permission was forthcoming from the Church authorities.

Gozo Prestige Holidays said that discussions were under way with the world's leading yacht charter company for the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, with a view to having flotilla charters which set off from Gozo.

The company also engaged British marine modelling specialists to carry out assessments of the waves and currents generated in the area over different seasons.

The quarry at Qala was the source for the lower coralline limestone blocks that were used to build the Mgarr Harbour breakwater.

It has been abandoned since the 1980s, and has since been used for the illegal dumping of household waste and building debris.

Full details of the project are being revealed tomorrow with the opening of a public consultation exhibition at Qala primary school. This will mark the start of the public consultation process.