The Church’s environment commission said today that it was of the view that the proposed development of Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo was not sustainable and it was difficult to see how it  represented better quality of life for the Gozitans in the long term.

Developers are proposing to build a hotel, tourist village and yacht marina on the site

The project, the commission said, would not conserve the natural beauty of the area, which should be one of the reasons to attract tourists to Gozo.

The need to clean up the old quarry and rehabilitate the area  were being used as an excuse for property speculation with no regard to the loss to the tourism product.

It was a pity, the commission said, that the developers were sold the land without the owners having realised, or with them having ignored the damage which this sale could cause.

The commission said it would not be enough to stop this project. What was needed was to correct the environmental scar which the quarry had caused through regeneration of the site.