The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) approved preliminary site preparation for the controversial Six Senses Comino resort, triggering opposition from environmental groups who argue that regulatory decisions on the island have raised concerns among conservation advocates about environmental protections.
Why This Matters
• Access considerations: A €170M luxury resort with 71 rooms and 44 swimming pools is moving forward despite 13,500 formal objections—one of the most contested projects in Maltese planning history. Malta residents can currently access Comino's Blue Lagoon publicly, though visitor capacity is already constrained at 4,000 per time slot.
• Trees under review: ERA has authorized removal of 54 protected trees and transplanting of 348 more. Developers state 1,900 alien species will be cleared as part of habitat restoration, though environmental groups dispute these classifications.
• Legal process underway: The main planning permit remains under court appeal, and a tribunal is reconsidering its previous approval decision. Preparatory work including tree interventions can begin during winter months while appeals proceed.
• Blue Lagoon capacity: The island currently receives 4,000 visitors per time slot. Environmental assessments suggest this is at or near sustainable capacity, with separate efforts underway to rehabilitate the area.
Regulatory History and Public Concerns
The Six Senses proposal represents one of the most publicly contested projects in Maltese planning history, with 13,500 formal objections filed. The Għajnsielem Local Council formally opposes the project, and various environmental organizations have raised concerns about the development's environmental impact.
Moviment Graffitti is funding a legal appeal of ERA's decision, arguing that allowing site preparation while the main permit remains under court review raises questions about irreversible environmental changes. The organization points to endangered seabird species on the island, including the Yelkouan Shearwater and Scopoli's Shearwater, which nest in areas affected by the proposed development.
Environmental groups have cited the lack of a completed carrying capacity study as a concern, arguing that without comprehensive ecological assessment data, authorities cannot make fully informed decisions about development scale and impact.
A Development With Deep Roots
The current proposal traces back to 1963, when the British government granted entrepreneur John Gaul a 150-year lease to build the original Comino Hotel and bungalows. That concession eventually passed to Hili Ventures, which proposes replacing the aging 1960s structures with a Six Senses property featuring 71 suites, 19 serviced bungalows, and 44 pools across San Niklaw Bay and Santa Marija Bay.
HV Hospitality, Hili's development arm, maintains the new resort will occupy a smaller physical footprint than the existing facilities and will restore more than 8,200 square meters of degraded land. The company has committed to planting over 55,000 endemic trees, shrubs, and plants and removing 1,831 alien and invasive species.
Environmental organizations counter that mature trees provide immediate ecological benefits that newly planted saplings cannot replicate for years. They also note that comparable developments in other Mediterranean locations have faced similar restoration commitments that were not fully realized or took decades to show results.
What This Means for Maltese Residents
For residents and visitors, the Comino development raises practical questions about public access and island management. The Għajnsielem Local Council has expressed concern that luxury development will reduce opportunities for local residents to enjoy the island.
Momentum, a political party, has proposed reducing the Blue Lagoon's visitor cap from 4,000 to 2,000 per time slot, with 1,000 spaces reserved for Maltese and Gozitan residents. The party also calls for no new commercial development on the island.
The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) appointed Mizzi Studio in April 2025 to develop a Strategic Plan for the Blue Lagoon focused on ecological rehabilitation. Implementation includes replacing temporary kiosks with sustainable structures, relocating vessel operations away from swimming zones, and removing concrete surfaces. Food and beverage outlets are being encouraged to use locally-sourced produce and sustainable packaging.
Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement
BirdLife Malta has raised concerns about commercial activities like floating platforms and their potential impact on bird nesting habitats. The organization has called for review of such installations in protected areas.
Friends of the Earth Malta has launched initiatives to address waste management on the island, noting that infrastructure has struggled to keep pace with visitor numbers and pointing to rat population concerns that affect native bird species.
The Malta Chamber of Scientists has recommended that policymakers adopt comprehensive sustainability assessments rather than approving interventions separately, suggesting that environmental accounting should be integrated into development evaluations.
The Legal Process
The Planning Authority granted the main permit for the Six Senses project in April 2025, a decision initially upheld by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT). A court recently ordered the EPRT to reconsider its ruling, providing an opportunity for renewed review of the decision.
HV Hospitality has stated it will not begin demolition or construction of hotel and bungalows until the appeal process concludes, but has indicated preparatory work including tree removal could proceed during winter months pending final permit approval.
Tree counts have been a point of disagreement. Moviment Graffitti estimates approximately 800 trees will be removed, while HV Hospitality contends most are alien or invasive species targeted for removal to restore native habitat. ERA has specified that 54 protected trees require removal, with 540 indigenous replacements mandated.
Regulatory Performance and Public Participation
Malta's planning process includes multiple stages of public consultation and appeal mechanisms. Residents can submit objections during public notice periods, and decisions can be appealed to tribunals and courts. The record 13,500 objections to the Six Senses proposal represents the largest public response to a planning application in Maltese history.
Previous development projects on Comino and the Blue Lagoon demonstrate varying outcomes regarding environmental commitments and enforcement. The Blue Lagoon's management has evolved over time, with authorities implementing visitor management systems in response to overcrowding. Similar regulatory improvements for the proposed resort development would depend on formal conditions and enforcement mechanisms built into any final permit.
Path Forward and Outstanding Questions
The MTA's Blue Lagoon rehabilitation initiative represents an effort to balance tourism and conservation objectives through specific management practices. How effectively these measures are implemented and enforced will provide data relevant to assessing the feasibility of managing additional development on the island.
The judiciary's reconsideration of the EPRT's approval decision offers an opportunity for comprehensive review of the permitting process. The coming months will clarify the legal framework's capacity to address environmental concerns raised during public consultation.
For residents and local authorities, the outcome will affect public access rights, local employment opportunities, and the island's long-term environmental trajectory. The specific conditions ultimately attached to any permit—whether through the legal process or authority decision-making—will determine the practical impacts on Comino's future management and use.
The island's multiple protective designations—Natura 2000 site, Nature Reserve, Bird Sanctuary, and Dark Sky Heritage area—create a legal framework for environmental protection, and enforcement of these designations remains central to the development's actual outcomes.
