Updated 3.10 pm
An appeals court has confirmed a decision by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal to turn down an application to build a port including a hotel, yacht marina and a tourist village in Ħondoq Bay, Qala.
In 2016, the Planning Authority reached a unanimous decision not to grant a development permit and the developers, Gozo Prestige Hotels, filed an appeal before the tribunal.
The EPRT rejected that appeal last November, prompting the developers to file a case in the law courts, seeking to have that decision overturned.
Gozo Prestige Hotels had wanted to develop the 103,000 square metre site into a complex including 25 villas, 60 apartments and 200 multi-owner properties, apart from the hotel and other facilities.
In their appeal from EPRT decision, the developers said that the tribunal had cited the wrong applicable law when it considered their plans. They also requested a reference to the constitutional court since, in terms of the law, a representative of the local council had to sit on the Planning Authority board when major projects were considered.
The appeals court, presided by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, dismissed both complaints.
With regard to the application of planning rules, the court said the tribunal had discretion in the way it applied rules, provided the interpretation did not run counter to legislators' express wishes or was manifestly absurd.
"One can agree or disagree with the broad or strict interpretation of provisions, but that is not enough for the court to meddle in this," it said.
The court also rejected the applicant's request for a constitutional reference as "frivolous and vexatious".
The applicants had argued that their right to a fair hearing had been breached by a PA requirement to have a local council representative on its board, given that the local council had objected to the project.
But the court dismissed that reasoning, saying there was nothing untoward about a local council representative being actively involved in a development proposal concerning the locality they represent.
Qala Mayor Paul Buttigieg, who led the 20-year battle to protect the picturesque bay from development, said he was elated by the court decision.
"It is now time for the next step for the government [to secure] public access and enjoyment of Ħondoq on a permanent basis," he said.
The Labour Party in a statement also welcomed the decision and thanked Buttigieg for his work to protect the site.
In a statement, the Nationalist Party expressed satisfaction that the Appeals court has also confirmed that there should be no development in Ħondoq ir-Rummien.
It said that the PN has been working to keep this stretch of land public for many years and proposed that it be turned into a national park in its last electoral manifest.
Conversely, it said that the Labour Party has only recently joined the bandwagon in opposing the project.