A large crowd of residents and non-governmental organisations cheered as the board members of the Planning Authority this afternoon turned down an application for a mega development at Gozo’s idyllic Ħondoq bay.

Board members voted unanimously against the proposed marina and hotel in a disused quarry along the protected stretch of Ħondoq coastline.

The proposed 104,000 square metre development sought to turn the entire quarry site and an additional area of garigue into a 110-bedroom hotel spread across nine floors with four levels of underground parking. The developers, Gozo Prestige Holidays, were also seeking to build 25 villas, 60 apartments and 200 multi-owner properties.

The developer requested that his application go back to the assessment stage on the basis that amended plans and drawings which significantly reduced the scale of the development had not been considered by the case officer.

The board argued that a fresh application had to be submitted when substantial changes were being made.

The developer also argued that his fundamental right to a fair hearing had been undermined due to the short notice in which he was informed about the hearing. He claimed that because of this, experts who had worked on the proposal could not be present.

The board, however, argued that the notification period was 16 days, this had been adhered to and it should be the developer’s responsibility to ensure that anyone who could be needed was present.