In 1996, Mepa issued a permit for the redevelopment of the Hilton grounds into a hotel, a residential project and a yacht marina.

The permit excluded any development in a part of the site between the foreshore and the protected bastion that formed part of the old Fort Spinola. This part of the site was declared a protected ecological zone due to the presence of unique ecological plants and species.

In fact, the permit required the developers to fence off the ecological site during construction, with the site being reopened to the public on completion of the project. The developers were obliged to affix a notice on site declaring this fact, and the notice was duly fixed in place.

The developers of the Portomaso project are now proposing to also develop the ecological site, in the process eliminating from Malta the only remaining rare species of the crystal plant and of the wedgefoot grass. These had both been identified in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out in 1995, prior to Mepa issuing the building permit.

It is worth noting that all the approved permit drawings identified the ecological zone as well as an adjacent public passage connecting Spinola Road to the yacht marina as areas where no physical development could take place.

If Mepa issues a building permit as applied for under PA04096/08 it would mean it is authorising the destruction of the rare ecological species identified by the EIA, carried out as part of the original application process.

It would mean Mepa is authorising the destruction of a species it is legally obliged to protect.

It would mean that the ecological zone the developer was obliged to protect by fencing during the original construction can now be the site of more apartments.

It would also mean that public access from Spinola Road to the yacht marina, also a requirement of the original permit as a planning gain for the public, would no longer be available.

Surely Mepa has no option but to reject application PO4096/08.