The seven environmental NGOs Ramblers’ Association, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth, Nature Trust, Din l-Art Helwa, GAIA, and Malta Organic Agriculture Movement have taken serious consideration of the detailed report on the investigation of the Xerri il-Bukkett planning application, which they requested from the Audit Office last August.

They are surprised and dismayed at the negative reaction to the report taken by the Chairman of the Authority, who leveled unjust criticism at Mr Falzon for performing his duty with zeal. The NGOs regret that they consider the declaration by the Chairman to be a poor attempt to divert attention from the real issue at stake, and which he should have addressed.

The report exposed serious shortcomings in the approval of the Xerri Planning Application, similar to other abusive cases that have been bulldozed through while Mepa reform drags on.

Firstly the NGOs exhort the Chairman as well as the Prime Minister, under whose responsibility the Authority falls, to give account of the reason why the planners who formulated the Gozo and Comino Local Plan in 2006 zoned the area as a Category 1 Rural Settlement. The area there does not fit the criteria at all.

In their request for an investigation the NGOs had questioned how the designation of “rural settlement” has been accorded to just two structures, both belonging to the same owner, one of which commercial in nature, and both in ODZ, when far larger clusters have been denied that designation and the development potential that comes with it

The NGOs consider this highly questionable, especially since this is not the first time that zoning irregularities appear to have been tailored to facilitate projects subsequently lodged. At the time that the Gozo/Comino Local Plans were drawn up, it was very difficult for anyone outside the planning section to realize the implications of such zoning. This planning application has now made it obvious to all how pernicious these implications are. So much so the NGOs will submit a formal request to the Prime Minister and the MEPA Chairman to investigate the anomaly that will be created if the development permit is not withdrawn, in view of the highly damaging precedent that will be set for the rest of the scenic ridge.

Secondly the sensitivity of the site was altogether neglected or at best not given its due importance by the DCC. This is of major relevance for the future of the island of Gozo, where emphasis and resources are being laid on the ecological aspect of the island. For this purpose the NGOs suggest that the Chairman commissions an independent surveyor to draw up a montage of final plans from the sensitive side of the site – the cliff side. He will thus determine which of the two montages is fact-based – the one submitted by the applicant or the one submitted by the objectors.

It is expected that the Chairman will likewise take serious consideration of the real issue at stake and give straight explanations without more beating around the bush.

Ramblers’ Association, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth, Nature Trust, Din l-Art Helwa, GAIA, and Malta Organic Agriculture Movement