Plan to create new salt pans in Xwejni, Gozo, dropped after strong objections

The objections of the local diving community and other environmental NGO’s seem to have hit the target, with the controversial project having now been withdrawn according to the Timesofmalta.com article published today. The site in question leads to a much frequented diving site in Gozo with one of the most famous locations, that of the Cathedral Cavern.

Plans for the creation of new salt pans at Xwejni Bay, on the north-eastern coast of Gozo, have been dropped following strong objections from the diving community and the Environment and Resources Authority.

The Planning Authority has informed objectors that the applicant, Tereża Refalo, withdrew the application.

The proposal was to create new salt pans, construct a storeroom and cut into the rock to form an open reservoir and a store on a ‘vacant plot’ outside the development zone on the coastal area of Il-Ponta ta’ Reqqa, limits of Żebbuġ.

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The diving community had further reasons to object. Rallying behind the Professional Diving Schools Association, which represents 53 dive centres, they argued the project was on the main access route to the entry point for two famed dive locations renowned for their unique underwater topography – Għar il-Qamħ and Cathedral cave.

The dive centres said they had restricted access to the site, making it very difficult for them to transport their heavy equipment as close to the foreshore as possible and more salt pans would only aggravate this situation.

The centres are also legally obliged to keep emergency oxygen therapy units within close range in case of an emergency. “Our industry cannot afford to lose two main shore dive sites in Gozo, especially such important ones as these.”

They said the Malta Tourism Authority and the dive centres spent a lot of money on advertising ‘The Gozo Diving Product’ overseas. “Losing the north of Gozo dive sites is comparable to [people] no longer having access to the Blue Lagoon on Comino,” the association wrote.

Following the heavy objections to the proposal, the applicant’s architect, Saviour Micallef, wrote to the Planning Authority asking for the screening process to be suspended before withdrawing the application altogether.

Timesofmalta.com 11/04/2023