Three environmental organisations have objected to an application for a caravan site in Mellieħa's Majjistral Park, which is classified as a Natura 2000 area.

Din L-Art Ħelwa, Nature Trust and Gaia Foundation - responsible for the park - registered their objection with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa).

A Mepa spokesman said the application was validated late last month and was still in the early stages of being assessed. The site fell within the boundaries of a Special Area of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, he said.

Nature Trust president Vince Attard said the NGOs filed a joint objection because a caravan site needed a certain amount of development in the area and did not fit in with the concept of a nature park. The board running the park is in the process of completing a management plan - specifying and regulating the activities that can take place - which will be presented to Mepa.

The nature and heritage conservation area in the northwest of Malta was set up in 2007 and is managed by three NGOs whose representatives sit on the board chaired by Ian Castaldi Paris, who was nominated by the government.

The site forms part of an EU network of protected areas known as Natura 2000 and covers a significant tract of land in the northwest of the island, lying between Golden Bay and Anchor Bay, in the limits of Mellieħa.

It is home to a variety of plants and animals, including endemic species, seven breeding birds and other migratory birds.