[ad_1]
Planning Minister Clint Camilleri has questioned the advisability of further development on Comino and implicitly criticised the Hili Ventures bungalow project.
Camilleri was speaking during a parliamentary discussion on Wednesday on the Environment and Resources Management Authority’s annual report.
Camilleri questioned whether more development should be allowed after the government cracked down on lounger operators and campers.
“One asks whether we should allow more development on this pristine island after the government has regulated deckchairs and other activities and, in an insensitive but justifiable move, set aside designated camping sites for people to camp in an unorganised manner?”
The only major development in Comino is being proposed by HV Hospitality, a subsidiary of Hili Ventures. The project has been approved by the Environment and Resources Authority but is awaiting permission from the Planning Authority.
The minister did not specifically mention Healy’s plans to redevelop the closed Comino Hotel and Bungalows but insisted any development “should benefit the people”.
HV Hospitality, which owns the land and wants to develop the old hotel resort into a five-star wellness resort managed by the Six Senses brand, has scaled back the size of the project from its original proposal.
Camilleri told parliament that development on Comino “should not harm the ecology” and, more importantly, “should not be at the expense of the people.”
He believes that Comino is the only island in the Maltese archipelago that is very little developed.
In an interview with MaltaToday in March 2023, Prime Minister Robert Abela did not rule out development on Comino, but only if its footprint was no larger than the existing hotel and bungalow footprint.
HV Hospitality, for its part, maintained that the development was included within the building envelope of the existing bungalow and surrounding sports facilities.
The latest plan foresees the development of 16 bungalows on a plot area of 4,615 square metres, down from the 6,066 square metres proposed in 2022. Currently, the bungalow area, including service areas and sports facilities, covers an area of 4,587 square metres.
But environmentalists insist their main objection to the bungalow zone is not just its size, but the idea of building a year-round village within a Natura 2000 zone, which they say goes against the spirit of all current environmental policies.
The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has still not published a visitor carrying capacity assessment for Comino, which is a requirement in the island’s approved management plan.
[ad_2]
Source link
