EU had backed 2005 plans

Plans to reconstruct the existing Għadira road had been approved by Brussels in 2005, before the government scrapped them for the latest controversial proposal to replace the road with a new one that cuts through a sensitive area at the back of the bay.

EU officials have told The Times that detailed plans, complete with an environmental impact assessment, were presented to Brussels for funding under the EU Trans European Network (TEN-T) in 2005 concerning "the reconstruction and upgrading of the existing road known as the Għadira Bay Promenade".

According to the plans, which were seen by this newspaper, the project, costing Lm3.5 million (€8.15 million) for a 1.53 km stretch of road, consisted of the narrowing of the existing dual carriageway to a wide single carriageway and the realignment of the section from the Danish Village to Mellieħa Bay Hotel.

The project, filed under the previous Transport Minister Jesmond Mugliett, also involved the construction of a new link road behind the Seabank Ħotel, the building of an underpass at Mellieħa Bay Hotel and the construction of box culvert water drainage crossings in front of the nature reserve as well as improvements to promenade footpaths.

Instead, the new Transport Minister Austin Gatt is proposing the development of a new road that will stretch from behind the Danish Village to the area of the green caravan site, cutting through fields and a part of the Natura 2000 site.

The government can change its mind and has until mid-January to file new applications, Commission officials have confirmed, but the 2005 plans represent a fall-back option which has so far not been made public.

When presenting his proposal two weeks ago, Dr Gatt said the government would have to decide by the end of the year or risk losing the funds.

He did make reference to the previous plans by his predecessor but did not say that the project had been approved by Brussels. He said that the previous proposal would have solved the parking problems but it would have also had a negative environmental impact.

Yet, the 200-page environmental report attached to those original plans has not been made public.

On the other hand, the new proposal has not yet been discussed with Brussels and any departure from the already-approved original plans will mean that a new EIA would have to be drawn up, according to Commission officials.

"An EIA already exists on the original Għadira proposal to upgrade the existing road," the sources pointed out. "However, if new plans are presented we will obviously insist on a new EIA."

According to the ministry, the latest plans will lead to a bigger beach at Għadira and fight off natural erosion of the sand. But environmental lobby groups have shot down the proposal, arguing that the project would jeopardise the Natura 2000 site at the back.

More significantly, Birdlife Malta said the removal of the road, which is acting as a protection against retreat of the sand, could actually jeopardise the Għadira nature reserve - the only such natural sanctuary on the island.

Just last Friday Alternattiva Demokratika called for the publication of an environmental study which had been carried out in 2005 concerning the Għadira road. When contacted about the matter a spokesman for the Transport Ministry said he would need to know exactly what AD were talking about to comment further, but if the report was done in 2005 it could not relate to the current controversy since the new road was proposed this year.

Attempts to contact the ministry regarding the 2005 plans yesterday were unsuccessful.