Photograph by Daniel Cilia

After a five year struggle by Din l-Art Ħelwa to save Marsalforn Valley the road widening project will still go ahead with significant improvements on the original plans.

 From the previous 183 trees to be uprooted only 13 mature trees will be lost as a result of works on the Marsalforn Road, with 202 mature trees to be left untouched and 86 trees to be transplanted back on the site out of a total of 314 mature trees and shrubs. There will be a tentative uprooting and replanting of 13 mature eucalyptus trees; however, the likelihood of their survival is minimal.

This outcome – a full development permission application which is to be submitted soon – follows five years of meetings that Din l-Art Ħelwa Għawdex and Din l-Art Ħelwa have had with the Ministry for Gozo in a concerted effort to protect the valley during the proposed re-construction of the Rabat to Marsalforn Road.

Apart from the 202 mature trees which will not now be affected, the Ministry’s proposed application is for a further 86 mature trees to be transplanted back to the same stretch of road and for 300 new mature trees to be planted. The two centre strips, characterised by the beautiful rows of trees along the road, will now be retained.

Out of a total of 390 low lying shrubs, 259 will now remain undisturbed, five shrubs that are deemed to be of a rare species will be transplanted but 131 shrubs, which are deemed to be common and easier to replace, will be uprooted. The developement application to be submitted will also reduce the total area to be covered by the new road. The total project area will still increase by 5,567 square metres to 41,894. However, 5,175 square metres of expropriated land, previously destined to be surfaced, will now be retained in its natural state and planted with new mature trees. Only 393 square metres of agricultural land will be absorbed into the new road.

To further ameliorate the implementation correctly, the Ministry for Gozo has agreed to a system of numbering and colour coding all the existing mature trees on the road indicating the trees that will remain undisturbed, trees to be transplanted and trees to be uprooted. This exercise will be conducted with ERA. 

Din l-Art Ħelwa had not objected to the proposed bypass from Triq Fortunato Mizzi to Marsalforn Road (from Triq Ġorġ Pisani through Triq Patri Ċaċintu Camenzuli) as the NGO recognised the need to reduce traffic in central Victoria.

However, Din l-Art Ħelwa has always argued and continues to maintain that all that was required was a resurfacing of the existing road and the removal of two or three potential danger spots. The focus of Din l-Art Ħelwa’s concern was the agricultural land to be paved over, the uprooting and destruction of trees, potential damage to water courses and the potential degrading of one of the most scenic and picturesque of Gozo’s valleys and countryside.

It therefore engaged in talks to strongly argue for the least possible environmental damage and uprooting of trees. The initial discussions started off well with goodwill being shown by all sides to improve the first plans presented by Government – which were deemed to be unacceptable. Talks continued over the last five years with a breakthrough in discussions finally being achieved recently.

DLĦGħ founder member Godfrey Swain said: “A series of final meetings in February between DLĦGħ, the Ministry for Gozo and the architectural team responsible for the project displayed a real willingness to safeguard the countryside and mature trees, cleared a number of potential misunderstandings and hammered out a compromise position. The final outcome is deemed to be a reasonable outcome in the circumstances and the process followed in this project could serve as a model on which future infrastructural projects can be agreed with NGOs to safeguard our natural environment.”

Din l-Art Ħelwa Executive President Patrick Calleja said: “All that was required was a resurfacing of the road. The main risk to this picturesque and tranquil valley is the further urbanisation of the route to Marsalforn and loss of biodiversity in the area. Unfortunately it seems that the roadworks are going ahead anyway. We did our best to ensure that the road retains its tranquil, rural charm and natural beauty. The proposal that we have been shown now concludes years of discussions which were often on the verge of breaking down. We will remain vigilant.”

The DLĦ and DLHGħ teams included past and present presidents Alex Torpiano and Patrick Calleja, Godfrey Swain, Daniel Cilia, Danny Scanlon and Ann Marie Aquilina.