Mellieħa local council should take the lead in efforts to restore Selmun's Fort Campbell, chart an eco-tourism plan for the locality and ensure its natural beauty is shielded from rampant development, Alternattiva Demokratika said on Saturday.

Party chairperson Carmel Cacopardo noted that the town in northern Malta was one of the few in the country where nature continued to play a predominant role.

AD local council election candidate and Mellieħa resident Luke Caruana  argued that towns like Mellieħa needed green politics to keep development pressures at bay.

The proposed Malta-Gozo tunnel, he said by way of example, was a serious environmental threat to towns like Mellieħa and communities in Manikata and l-Għerien.

“It is unacceptable that other local councillors and candidates have not voiced their concern on this significant impact on our rural communities,” Mr Caruana said.

The AD candidate said that he wanted Mellieħa to become greener and “prioritise people over cars”, with more pedestrian zones and the possibility of making main streets more accessible to bicycles, electric taxis and other cleaners forms of transport.