The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is set to decide whether hundreds of trees on Comino, a protected nature reserve, can be removed to make way as part of the Hili Group’s proposed development.
ERA had issued a permit (EP 1472/22) in February authorising the removal of the trees. However, that permit was revoked by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) after an appeal found it had been issued in secrecy, denying the public the opportunity to participate in the process.
The application is linked to the Planning Authority permit (PA/04777/20) for the Hili Group’s proposed development of 16 villas, 44 swimming pools and a 71-room hotel on Comino.
Movement Graffitti has argued that the project would “irreversibly damage Comino as we know it” and noted that the Planning Authority permit remains the subject of an ongoing legal challenge by several NGOs.
The NGO said that, in May, the Court upheld one of the NGOs’ key arguments and referred the case back to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal after finding irregularities in the way it had confirmed the development permit.
“It would be absurd for ERA – the very authority entrusted with protecting Malta’s environment – to approve the removal of hundreds of trees and authorise construction works on the basis of a PA permit that is still being legally contested and is therefore far from definitive,” Movement Graffitti said.
The NGO called on ERA to refuse the application, or at the very least postpone any decision until the legal proceedings over the Planning Authority permit have been concluded.
“Anything less would mean that ERA is irresponsibly and illogically permitting the widespread destruction of Comino before it is even certain that the underlying development has been lawfully approved. Such a decision would demonstrate that, rather than fulfilling its duty to protect the environment, ERA is choosing to facilitate the interests of powerful developers.”
Developer’s say project will add 20 times more trees
Hili Ventures Ltd. responded to the NGOs statement, clarifying that 800 trees will not be uprooted at the Six Senses Comino site.
Below is the full statement:
“There are currently approximately 2,500 tree and shrubs on site. Around 1,900 of these are alien, invasive or ecologically incompatible species, whose controlled removal is necessary to allow Comino’s native habitats to recover.
Of the roughly 600 native and protected trees and plants on site, around 550 will be carefully transplanted. The remaining 50 will be permanently removed and each of these will be compensated at a ratio of 1:10, meaning approximately 500 new trees will be planted in their place.
Far from reducing vegetation on Comino, the project will add approximately 55,000 new trees and plants in total, more than 20 times what exists on the site today, and will return more than 8,200 square metres of previously built-up land to its natural state. This represents a substantial net gain in vegetation and ecological resilience, as only native species will be present.
All works are scheduled for winter, which is the appropriate seasonal window to maximise transplantation success and minimise environmental impact, and will be carried out under specialist ecological supervision.
This preparatory phase is entirely separate from the planning matter currently before the EPRT and remains subject to the necessary regulatory process being completed, to ensure works can be timed appropriately.”
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