The approved permit covers site preparation including landscaping, pre construction surveys and hoarding installation, carried out under strict conditions, with comprehensive method statements presented for both tree interventions and preparatory works. Every request by the Authority was complied with and all required documentation was submitted in full.

 

The overall environmental programme will deliver a substantial increase in vegetation across the site. Of approximately 2,500 tree and shrub specimens currently on site, around 1,900 are alien, invasive or ecologically incompatible species whose removal is necessary for native habitats to recover. Of the roughly 600 native and protected specimens, around 550 will be carefully transplanted and around 50 permanently removed, each compensated at a ratio of 1:10. All works will proceed under specialist ecological supervision, timed to the winter season to maximise transplantation success.

 

In total, the project will add approximately 55,000 new trees and plants, more than 20 times what exists on site today, and will return more than 8,200 square metres of previously built-up land to its natural state.

 

The subsequent phase, for the demolition of the old buildings on site and the construction of the Six Senses Comino hotel and bungalows, remains subject to the outcome of the ongoing court appeal process.