Dwejra’s bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site remains “nothing but a pipe dream” following a “disastrous” decision to allow a restaurant to crank up its investment at the Natura 2000 site, environmentalists have warned.

“Malta is shooting itself in the foot,” Nature Trust Malta said one day after it emerged that a tribunal had overturned a Planning Authority decision to refuse embellishment works at the restaurant.

The tribunal’s decision to overturn the PA ruling means objectors will now have to file a case in court if they are to halt the works.

Local activist Camilla Appelgren, who ran on a PD ticket during last month’s MEP elections, has challenged Environment Minister Jose’ Herrera to help fund that case, after Dr Herrera tweeted his disapproval of the tribunal decision.

In its statement, Nature Trust said the tribunal members were “not fit for purpose” and “unable to put environmental considerations before commercial interests”.

It urged authorities to step in and stop the restaurant’s bid and prevent what it called a “travesty of justice” that would inflict permanent harm on the environment and Malta’s tourism offering.

Dwejra's dark heritage

Dwejra is a designated Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive and is a key site for local astronomers, who use its dark skies to observe the stars. Local scientists had warned that allowing the restaurant works to go ahead would be "madness".

A study of the area by the University of Malta's Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy had found that the restaurant's artificial lighting was "effectively more than doubling the night-sky brightness" and always switched on. 

Malta’s small size, coupled with its dense population, means the country is starved of dark sky areas. A 2016 paper found that light pollution made it impossible to observe the Milky Way from 89 per cent of the country.

It is the second time in two weeks that the Environment and Planning Tribunal has made headlines for controversial reasons: earlier this month, a court said it was perplexed that the tribunal had allowed a member with a direct interest in the db Group’s €300m City Centre project vote on it, and nullified the project’s permit as a result.