Groyne next to Ghadira cart ruts raises watchdog concerns

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has expressed its concern on the government’s plans for beach expansion at Għadira, which foresees the development of a 20m groyne jutting from the rocky part of the beach opposite the Danish village, which hosts protected cart ruts.

While warning that the beach expansion works will have an inevitable visual impact, creating an “undeniable intensification of development along a major beach”, the SCH said works will impact down to bedrock, immediately adjacent to scheduled cart ruts, possibly impacting or exposing rock-cut features of cultural heritage importance.

In order to adequately assess the application, the SCH has asked for photomontages to be taken along various viewpoints on the beach.

The SCH described Għadira Bay as a significant coastal landscape, traditionally recognised for its “scenic beauty” in an area which is archaeologically and culturally sensitive.

The application foresees the expansion of the southern beach at Għadira Bay by 10m as part of a pilot study preceding an extension of the entire beach. The project will allow the authorities to study the impacts of the extension before considering a much larger plan to extend the whole of Għadira as proposed in 2018.

If approved the pilot project will result in the extension of the beach by 1,200sq.m through dredging of sand from other parts of bay. The project is still a far cry from plans presented by Projects Malta in 2018 to extend the whole length of the Għadira beach by 30-40 metres over an area of 38,200sq.m. The pilot project involves the construction of a groyne – a low, partly submerged wall built to check sand erosion deemed essential for the stability of the extended beach.

As proposed the groyne will extend 20m beyond the current shoreline from sloping downwards from one meter above sea level to a level of minus three meters below sea level.

The groyne will be constructed on the central rocky shore area because the “along-shore drift was noted to move from the southern part towards the northern areas”.

The rocky foreshore was previously identified for a beach concession for the Danish village.

But in 2019 following a public outcry after the application was flagged by MaltaToday, the Malta Tourism Authority withdraw its consent for the proposed beach concession while adding that it could change its position if the beach is extended. The MTA had attributed its change of heart “to overriding circumstances” stemming from the fact that Għadira beach had shrunk considerably due to the inclement winter, thus reducing the available public open space.

However, it pointed out that it could revert to its original position “should the beach show signs of recovery and increase in surface area”.

The aim of the beach expansion project, according to Projects Plus, the government agency responsible for the project, is to enlarge the beach so as to be able to accommodate more visitors and avoid overcrowding, while offering “a sustainable solution for the ever-increasing influx of tourists” and restore lost sand due to erosion from the beach in recent years.