Planning laws are to be amended in the coming weeks to ensure that Ħondoq ir-Rummien will not be developed, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Thursday during a visit to the site.

Accompanied by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg, Abela said this is the next step in the fight to safeguard Ħondoq.

Abela said that that this decision will rectify the 2006 changes to the local plan which had facilitated considerable development. It was another change aimed to preserve Gozo.

Abela noted that Planning Authority and court decisions since 2013 had refused the development but there was nothing to ensure that no more development applications would be submitted.

So a strong signal in the interest of the people and the area was needed, he said.

The Prime Minister, left, with the Gozo Minister, second from right, and the Qala mayor, second from left, in Ħondoq. Photo: OPM

In November, a planning tribunal shot down developers’ appeal to forge ahead with development in the bay, closing the chapter on a 20-year saga. 

Gozo Prestige Hotels, the landowners of a massive tract of land at Ħondoq had long had plans to develop the 103,000 square metre site, which included a hotel, parking facilities, 25 villas, 60 apartments and 200 multi-owner properties. 

In 2016, the Planning Authority reached a unanimous decision not to grant the permit, however, shortly after developers filed an appeal, claiming that their right to a fair hearing had been breached.