Our Foundation expressed concerns regarding the new Grant Schemes and the Accelerated Licensing Procedure for Small Private Desalination Units announced by the Department of Environment.
The simplified licensing procedure does not prohibit the placement of small private desalination units within or near protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network or Marine Protected Areas. It also raises questions about how the implementation of the Law for the Protection and Management of Nature and Wildlife will be ensured, given the one-week licensing timeframe and the promotion of installations just before the peak tourist season.
We also highlight that the Grant Schemes should have been subject to a Strategic Environmental Assessment and a Special Ecological Assessment, as they relate to the management of water resources. The existing environmental assessment concerns large public desalination units, not small private ones, and the new schemes do not comply with the recommendation against placing desalination units within Natura 2000 areas.