Wied Għomor will not be considered for public domain status for at least another year – due to a late submission by Environment Minister Josè Herrera.

Back in April, Mr Herrera announced that he had personally proposed the threatened valley, between Swieqi and San Ġwann, for protection under the Public Domain Act, along with Indawar Nature Park near Żonqor Point.

However, when the Planning Authority released a list of 24 proposed sites for public consultation last week, Wied Għomor was not among them. Mr Herrera’s proposal of Indawar was included, while most of the rest were proposed by NGOs.

A PA spokesman said: “The proposal for Wied Għomor was submitted after the cut-off date established for sites to be considered in the Public Domain Annual Report of 2017. Wied Għomor will be addressed in the process of preparing the Public Domain Annual Report for 2018.”

The Environment Ministry told the Times of Malta: “Minister Herrera has in no way withdrawn the recommendation for Wied Għomor and it will in fact be included with the new applications in September.”

Wied Għomor, a scheduled area of ecological and scientific importance, has been subjected to an unprecedented barrage of development applications in recent months, stretching local councils to their very limits in an attempt to preserve the valley.

The Swieqi council is currently embroiled in five separate appeals, including the major proposal of a 133-room residence for the elderly in an existing quarry, which was unanimously rejected by the PA board last year.

Several other major projects, including a proposed ecotourism development on the site of a disused cow farm, are known to be in the pipeline for the Outside Development Zone (ODZ) area.

 Residents had welcomed news that the valley would be considered for public domain designation in hopes it could put a halt to the creeping development.

The Public Domain Act introduced last year imposes a burden on the state to protect designated sites for future generations, safeguarding against unsustainable development, commercialisation and environmental destruction.

Wied Għomor, however, will need to hold out on its own for a bit longer.

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