Revived plans for the building of a 136metre-long concrete pier at the Blue Lagoon in Comino have angered ADPD.

"ADPD questions the government's commitment to a 'wellbeing-first vision' when it continues to trample over nature and our natural heritage," party chairman Carmel Cacopardo said in a statement.

He said the project had been shelved two years ago but was now back before the Planning Authority.

"There can be no such thing as a 'balance' between development and nature in Comino, when so-called 'balance' merely means building up Comino and commercialising it until it has been squeezed dry for private profit. Achieving sustainability in Comino should mean limiting tourist numbers and rehabilitating the land according to good conservation practices," Cacopardo added.

He called on the public and NGOs to continue campaigning together against the encroachment and destruction of Malta's third island.

"Comino must not be sacrificed for the benefit of a few. Comino is yet another victim of Maltese governments' hypocrisy - while paying lip service to wellbeing they consistently destroyed open spaces under one pretext or another - from the infamous 2006 extension of the development zones to the giving away of public land to private interests and strong lobbies today," he added.

The Planning Authority’s cultural heritage advisory committee was reported as saying in September last year that the pier would completely destroy the natural foreshore of the Blue Lagoon.

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage said it would “inevitably impact negatively on views of the area.”  

The planning application had been submitted by the Gozo Ministry.