A planning appeals board will on Thursday determine the fate of Ħondoq Bay, in what Qala mayor and activist Paul Buttigieg hopes will finally close the chapter on a 20-year saga threatening the idyllic Gozo site.  

The  Environment Planning Review Tribunal will be handing down its final decision on an appeal filed by developers who want to build a hotel and parking facilities as well as 25 villas, 60 apartments and 200 multi-owner properties at the site. 

The 104,000 square metre mega-development by Gozo Prestige Hotels was unanimously rejected by the Planning Authority board in June 2016, at the end of a 14-year battle by residents and environmental groups who fiercely oppose the project.

The developers appealed the refusal, however, arguing that their right to a fair hearing had been denied, as they were given only 15 days to prepare for the PA hearing, leaving them with insufficient time to bring forward the experts who had authored studies in support of the application.

“After 20 years the appeal is set to be decided. We hope that Ħondoq Bay will be preserved for those who love it and for future generations,” Buttigieg said when contacted on Saturday.

“Gozo needs to safeguard its natural capital and not become intensely developed and spoilt,” he said.

“I hope that justice will prevail according to the plans and policies that do not allow this intensification of use of this land. It must also be done out of respect for the will of thousands of Gozitans and Maltese people who voted in a referendum when 85 percent voted against it. I once again appeal to the government to turn Hondoq into a national park as soon as possible,” he added. 

The local plan states that any development may be considered by the PA as long as it is of a "low density and high-quality nature that respects the environment and landscape qualities of  Ħondoq and its surroundings."

A montage of the proposed development by Daniel Cilia

A struggle stretching back years

Buttigieg has been spearheading the fight to save Ħondoq ir-Rummien from development for decades. Last year, he wrote to MPs insisting that the site should be declared public domain by parliament to protect it from development.

The idyllic Gozitan coastal area has been eyed by developers for well over a decade, with repeated attempts to build hotels, apartments and a marina there being stopped at every turn.

Activists have been demanding environmental protection for Ħondoq for years.

“Go to parliament and change the local plan - the same as you did in recent years when you changed property heights to be higher in Dingli; when you changed the local plan for Ta’ Qali which became a zone for commercial purposes with higher height limitations; and also when Ħal Ferħ became a residential zone instead of a tourist zone,” Buttigieg had told MPs.

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri has said he is against developing the area while the Nationalist Party has said that it would buy back land in the area to turn it into a national park if it were in government.

A public domain act passed through parliament in 2016 included Ħondoq as one of the locations proposed for protection, following a proposal to that effect by NGO Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar. But that law has languished in obscurity and remains unused, five years on.

Stakeholders fear Gozo is losing charm

In August, Gozo Tourism Association members said in a survey that they believe that the island was losing its charm and characteristics to overdevelopment.

The operators hail from the accommodation, catering, diving, attractions, transport, tours and real estate sectors and also destination management companies, travel agencies and tourism consultancy firms

Furthermore, 91% of the survey respondents said this development will deter foreign and local tourists from visiting Gozo.

The association said its survey focused on the touristic product and the constraints that Gozitan tourism establishments are facing in post-pandemic times.

“The survey confirmed the tourism sector in Gozo is seriously concerned about the over development in Gozo,” the association said in a statement.

Among others, a significant majority of 81% of participants believe unfinished projects are providing "a shabby look of the destination".

And 62% of participants agreed that the island needs a general clean-up, recommending as well continuous maintenance of public places, playing fields, public gardens and green areas.