Works on the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal should finally get off the ground after the planning authority yesterday approved amended plans for the project that has been in the pipeline for more than a decade.

A call for tenders for the project will be issued next month, according to a spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority who clarified that the regulator was not in a position to give a timeline for the beginning of works.

Replying to a parliamentary question last October, Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt had given 2012 as the date of completion. While work is carried out, the terminal will continue operating by means of temporary structures.

The present three-storey building housing a cafeteria and some offices will be demolished and eventually replaced by a modern, one-storey terminal fitted with photovoltaic cells to generate energy from the sun.

The new terminal will be a reduced version of the original plans, approved in 2007. It was then meant to be two storeys high with a small tower. But the plans were scrapped because of cost.

According to the new plans, a shelter for commuters will be built and will include bathroom facilities and a waiting area while the marshalling and parking areas will be extended.

The number of parking spaces available for the public will increase from 107 to 166, a reduction of 20 spaces from the 2007 permit. There will, however, be 32 new parking spots for divers, 21 more than the previous permit.

The spaces were calculated following consultation with the current operator and there is the possibility of extending the parking area in future.

The new terminal will be accessible to wheelchairs and will also include a 15-metre wind turbine near the ramp to the south quay. A police station will be built and security standards will comply with European requirements. There are also plans to move the ticketing station to Gozo.

Given that no significant impacts on the environment were foreseen, the proposal did not require an environmental impact assessment, the Mepa spokesman said.

A long way to Ċirkewwa

The Ċirkewwa and Mġarr passenger terminals had been on the cards for some 15 years but while the Mġarr terminal was opened last year, work on the one in Ċirkewwa has not yet started.

A permit for the extension of the quay was granted in 2000 and, following other Mepa procedures and permits, an amended development permit for the construction of the terminal was issued in 2007. This was followed by another application for amendments that was approved yesterday.

There were no objections by the Environment Protection Directorate or the Natural Heritage Advisory Committee.