Lan st Calypso's island Land owners are pushing for 18 plots to be included within development boundaries on fertile land for two-storey villas, along Triq is-Salini in Marsalforn. sleight of hand given that the Planning Commission (PC) application process was used, which is normally the preserve of areas within development zones and which cannot alter the designation of a zone. PC applications, such as the PC 0112/18 in this case, receive a much lower share of the limelight that doPA applications, so this might be the .real motivation for such an apparently anomalous move. ozitans constitute roughly four to The biscuit probably goes to a site in five per cent of the native popu­ Marsalforn, along Triq is-Salini, for which lation of the entire archipelago, the beauty of 18 plots within ODZ are being Gsome elementary number­ proposed for the development of two­ crunching reveals (e.g. by excluding the storey villas. Maltese in possession of a Gozitan identifi­ Perhaps the most sobering aspect of the cation card and foreigners who have settled whole Gozo ODZ debacle is the fact that, on these shores). countering this watershed of requests to Despite this, around 10 per cent (equiva­ include ODZ parcels within development lent to 497) of all requests submitted to the boundaries, is just a handful of diametri­ then Mepa for the inclusion of current ODZ cally opposed proposals advocating the con­ plots within development boundaries orig­ servation of ODZ areas, such as the one call­ inate from Gozo. ing for the preservation of the Calypso This disproportion might be partly attrib­ It seems that construction machinery is here to stay on Calypso's isle, not even ~paring Cave-Ramla 1-Hamra stretch. uted to the prevalence of ODZ areas in Gozo, tranquil villages such as Gflasri. Such a disparity between pro- and anti­ especially when compared with the combined ODZ development proposals in Gozo does national ODZ footprint. But the surfeit of ODZ not bode well for the environmental creden­ plot inclusion requests from Gozo does not combined footprint of15,000 square metres, available land for residential development tials or the sister island, which seems enam­ tally with the bonanza of vacant properties or 1.5 hectares/full-size football pitches. in that village (with a total population of oured with construction. on the island or, as is constantly being bandied The motivation for the Ghasri request, a couple of thousand souls) is extremely Transport Minister Ian Borg, within about in the Malta-Gozo tunnel debate, with endorsed by the local council, is that limited, thus greatly hindering the whose portfolio the Planning Authority the falling Gozitan population. younger generations from acquiring squarely falls, should definitely steer away So what exactly is the motivation behind property there. from sanctioning yet another infamous the renewed resolve being shown by Gozi­ The same blinkered argument was development boundary extension scheme, tan applicants to develop ODZ plots on the echoed by the Fontana local council, a local­ since the echoes (both ecological and polit­ sister island? It really depends on your neck ity that lies cheek by jowl with Victoria, ical) of the previous extension in 2006 still in the woods. where property is available. Were it not for reverberate to this day. For instance, the wider Marsalforn area, Such a disparity the local council's endorsement, which ren­ The government is, understandably, not which encroaches upon the relatively pris­ " ders the request tragic (given that a request too keen to run the same gauntlet as the PN tine Qbajjar and Xwejni coastal stretches, between pro- and by private third parties for development is government way back in 2006 and has, as a has been earmarked for a medley of mixed, being endorsed by local government, which result, bandied about a compromise of non-residential uses, ranging from an anti-ODZ in itse.lf is a blatant conflict of interest), the sorts: wiping off the development register extension of the Calypso Hotel in Marsal­ validity of such a motivation could easily be some publicly held land within the confines forn and an outdoor recreational area oppo­ development dispelled. Young couples could settle within of current boundaries so as to accede to site La Grotta discotheque in Xlendi (which existing development zones sited at a some of the ODZ change-in-sta us requests. is dogged by a number of planning illegali­ stone's throw away from Ghasri (e.g. Gharb, Such an offer is no panacea, however, ties) to accommodation facilities at Xwejni proposals in Gozo Zebbug, Xaghra, San Lawrenz, etc.) without since, although it would entail no net in relation to diving tourism. much angst. increase in the uptake of ODZ and thus can­ An extension of the Cornucopia Hotel in does not bode well for The large-scale Xlendi ODZ inclusion not be branded as a bounda11y extension Xaghra has also been touted and camping request is no less brazen than the Ghasri exercise, it would probably ead to even aficionados have also been catered for, the environmental one, although it appears innocuous at face more recriminations years d(i)wn the line through a request for the siting of a caravan value, given that it entails the establishment from aggrieved parties whosekequest was and camping site in an ODZ area in Xlendi credentials of the of planning parameters (e.g. road align­ not acceded to this time round. and in Ghasri. ment, building heights) for a substantial The thirst for real estate ih Gozo is as Perhaps the most ominous and poker­ sister island, which slice of land located along the road mean­ unremitting as ever, and the proposed tun­ faced proposals, those for residential devel­ dering up to Ta' Sarraflu. nel will simply exacerbate suoh a thirst by opment within agricultural land, have been seems enamoured As aptly underscored by the eNGO fuelling a spike in property prices. made by the same applicant for large Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, the planning swathes of land in Xlendi and Ghasri, for a with construction procedure resorted to by the applicant is a AlAN.DBt N@GMAILCOM .