by Mr P. Llewellyn

The residents of Sannat, Gozo, were treated for a few hours yesterday week, to probably a taste of the future, if the Prime Minister and a local businessman have their way.

Traditional, generations-old village access to the Ta Cenc plateau and the only access to the sea, was blocked by an illegal barrier erected by the owners of the Ta? Cenc Hotel, who plan to develop the area. The police presence seemed, worryingly, more concerned with enforcing this exclusion than allowing public access, which is even marked throughout the village with government road signs

The 150-hectare Ta? Cenc plateau is a significant ancient archaeological site (cart ruts, the Dolmens, Mramma Temple).

Ta? Cenc according to MEPA, also ?constitutes an ecologically important area supporting a variety of natural habitats characterised by rare or endemic species and by unique vegetation assemblages?.

MEPA has just scheduled the 140-metre coastal cliffs as an Important Bird Area of EU importance. Yet the area as a whole has not been listed internationally by the government as one of high conservation value. A section of the area has been earmarked as Malta?s first Heritage Park, whatever that will mean in practice.

Which direction for Gozo?

This Ta? Cenc area, which comprises some five per cent of Gozo?s area, is ?owned? by one local businessman and has been shortlisted as a site for one of two proposed golf courses on Malta, the other being across the channel at ix-Xaghra il-Hamra. There is absolutely no doubt that the Ta? Cenc area needs a proper management plan and its implementation, but is a golf course the solution?

Golf has been a fast growing worldwide leisure activity, and Malta is seen by some as having ?missed out?. Therefore, according to their reasoning, a couple of high class golf courses on Malta and Gozo will attract more all year round visitors to the islands. The MTA claims a figure of 30,000 (I would like to see their analysis). But at what environmental and social cost and who will stand to gain and lose?

Let?s take a look at some of the key issues.

The proliferation of golf courses around the world and in southern Europe in particular, has made the sport very competitive and affordable. There are nine golf courses currently under construction in Cyprus alone. Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco are new regional golf destinations as well as the better-known areas of southern Spain and Portugal.

An international standard 18-hole golf course, using natural grass which is what golfers like, needs large areas of land and consumes a vast quantity of water. So building golf courses on small islands where both land and water are in short supply does not seem very sensible.

To keep the greens green during Gozo?s long summer could easily use up 1,200 cubic metres of water per day, or the equivalent water consumption of 15,000 Gozitans. If 100 golfers use the course in one day (which I doubt in summer) each round will ?consume? the water of 150 Gozitans.

So where will this water come from? Gozo?s aquifers are public property and are already in heavy demand, with falling water tables and decreasing water quality. A dedicated desalination plant is of course possible but is expensive. Grass also has to be fertilised and weeds controlled, usually with chemical products, which have potential negative impacts on the adjacent flora and aquifers.

There is now a wealth of documented evidence, from established golfing areas in the southern Mediterranean and from small islands around the world (Mauritius, the Caribbean, etc), that golf courses are having a long term and very damaging impact on local water resources.

But perhaps golf is not the real issue here. By the time the developer has bulldozed the landscape and installed a desalination plant, it is hard to imagine a Gozo golf course more than financially breaking even. Not a great business investment.

However, a glance at any international real estate website shows that villas and holiday homes fetch much better prices when they are adjacent to amenities such as golf courses, yacht marinas, as well as having splendid sea views (Area of High Landscape Value to use MEPA speak). This is where the real profits are to be made.

So, let us not be seduced into thinking that a golf course planning application containing a handful of adjacent villas will be the end of the story. This is likely to just be the tip of the iceberg. Once the first destruction of the area is a fact ? the pressure for more real estate will follow and soon Ta? Cenc will be a totally built up area. To avoid this, the area needs a holistic planning approach from the start rather than piecemeal development.

So where does this leave the local flora and fauna, the ancient archaeological sites and the residents of Sannat, who for generations have used this area and still regularly swim at the so called ?private beach? at Kantra once the tourists have left. Probably feeling marginalised and excluded.

A golfing consultants? feasibility report concluded that the Ta? Cenc site had only space for a 9-hole course. The developer believes an 18-hole (the more attractive standard) can be built. Add on the support facilities (club house, car parks) and inevitably a string of villa developments and what will be left of the 150 hectares?

Planning applications such as this, must follow a formal process of Environmental (and Social) Impact Assessment (EIA). This now comes under an EU directive known as Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) which makes an EIA mandatory on all such projects and there are clear guidelines on how this should be done.

The project proponent (the developer or their consultants) normally carries out the EIA, which is submitted for approval to MEPA. One of the most important and early steps in the EIA process, which developers often are keen to rush, is proper and transparent public consultation with representatives of all stakeholder groups.

A stakeholder being anyone on whom the proposed development will have an impact (positive or negative). We should demand and expect that an EIA of this development be carried out to the best international professional standards, which must involve thorough and extensive public consultation.

That of course requires the public to be informed and I fear that the top down heavy-handed approach, like yesterday week?s actions will mean the bigger picture is not addressed. What is really needed is an informed public debate on the socio-economic development of small island economies, such as Malta and Gozo in particular.

We need to create sustainable employment opportunities, particularly for our school leavers and young graduates. How many long term jobs and of what quality, will a golf course create? I would like to see an analysis, along with estimates of golf and other visitors and the associated underlying assumptions.

What will more private villas at Ta? Cenc, which will probably stand empty for most of the year, bring to Sannat in terms of long term employment, other than a demand for cleaning ladies?

Official unemployment figures for Gozo are pretty meaningless since there is a large informal economy including, particularly, government employees who work after hours.

We need to look at alternative sustainable livelihoods and what can stimulate these. The growth of nature and adventure tourism, for example, far outstrips golf in percentage terms. The fine natural landscapes of Gozo in particular, might attract far more walkers and birdwatchers (once trapping and shooting are banned) with much less environmental damage than a golf course.

The rapid expansion of low cost air travel in Europe has stimulated a whole new tourist market catering for short (and long weekend) breaks, particularly city breaks. Malta and Gozo, with their mild winter climate and mix of heritage, architecture and coastal landscapes, could be very attractive and are within two hours flight of the new growing EU economies in Eastern Europe.

Currently, air prices to Malta are, in my opinion, too expensive to stimulate this short break sector.

Gozo?s only agro-processing industry and probably the largest employer on the island (Magro) has to import its raw materials (tomatoes) and export its products (to mainland Europe and elsewhere) first by truck to and from Malta, adding to costs. What about improving freight handling at Mgarr? Is there a market for summer fast ferries directly to Sicily? Many more questions need to be asked.

So, do golf courses, more villa construction and the destruction of natural habitats represent solutions to the challenge facing long term sustainable economic development in Malta and Gozo?

I don?t know the answer, but in order to find out, I sincerely hope to see a process truly worthy of a real democracy and of a new member State of the European Union, and not one driven (purely) by greed, power and politics.

kaskazi@maltanet.net

Peter Llewellyn MSc, Eur Ing

Development consultant and resident of Sannat

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