Any decision on whether to designate Ħondoq ir-Rummien as outside the development zone will not be taken until after a review of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), the planning minister has said. 

There have long been calls to turn the land back into ODZ after it was changed in 2006 to allow for tourist and marine-related developments.

On Thursday a tribunal rejected plans by developers Gozo Prestige to turn the area into a port and yacht marina along with a luxury village including hotel and apartments.

However Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg has said he will continue to campaign for the area to be protected.

Planning minister Stefan Azzopardi Zrinzo said Ħondoq Ir-Rummien's zoning relies on local plans Video: Chris Sant Fournier

Asked whether there are plans to return Ħondoq to its former ODZ status, Zrinzo Azzopardi said that any zoning changes will be based on updating local plans which in turn rely on the findings of a review of SPED,

Following the publication of the SPED review “one can look not only towards reforms in the area [Ħondoq Ir-Rummien] but also on a national level,” the minister said. 

SPED is Malta's 'bible' on planning and development rules, superseding all other policies.

Buttigieg has also called on the government to expropriate the land and turn the area into a national park.

When contacted for comment, Joseph Cassar, one of the parties involved in Gozo Prestige Hotels, the owners of Ħondoq bay said that the project is on private property and that the media “shouldn’t keep lying about it”. 

He hung up the phone before any questions could be asked. 

Times of Malta would have asked whether the developers intended to appeal the planning tribunal’s decision in court and what they intend to do with the land should they continue to fail at acquiring planning permission to develop it.

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