Mepa auditor urged to investigate Qala development permit
Nine environment NGOs including Din l-Art Helwa, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, the Ramblers' Association and Nature Trust, have called on the Mepa auditor to investigate the granting of a permit for the redevelopment of a restaurant overlooking the...
Nine environment NGOs including Din l-Art Helwa, Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar, the Ramblers' Association and Nature Trust, have called on the Mepa auditor to investigate the granting of a permit for the redevelopment of a restaurant overlooking the valley .
In a strongly-worded statement said they could not understand how Mepa persisted in disrespecting its own internal regulations and continued to freely interpret Local Plan policies, 'breaking them flagrantly at will'.
The issue involves "Il-Bukkett" complex on the panoramic road that from Mgarr leads to Qala, overlooking the scenic coastline of Southern Gozo and the panoramic view of the Comino Channel with the Blue Lagoon and the Maltese Island beyond.
"The (DCC) board irrationally granted permission, in this Category 1 ODZ rural settlement placed on a site of high landscape value, to turn the present low lying rural "casa-bottega" restaurant into a multi-storey imposing development that will involve the construction of "additional floors, the demolition of dwellings and construction of new units with a pool, the construction of an underground basement parking as well as the sanctioning of infringements at the existing commercial area," the NGOs said.
In spite of valid arguments put forward against the development by the Local Council of Qala and others, and despite the well-informed recommendations of the case officers to dismiss reconsideration of the application, the DCC board 'irrationally overruled and decided to break Structure Plan and Local Plan policies with the usual nonchalance'.
"What had been refused for seven valid reasons by the same board only a few months before was reconsidered and approved after the applicant made alterations so minor that six of the seven valid reasons were not adequately addressed."
The groups said the insensitive development would have serious repercussions on the remainder of the belvedere road, cause more ribbon development (this time between Mgarr and Qala), impact negatively the visual impression that visitors first get, and irreversibly destroy the landscape value of the cliff face of the southern coast of Gozo.
The nine NGOs, backed by the Local Council of Qala, have called formally on the MEPA Auditor to immediately investigate this irrational DCC decision, certainly not taken in the best interests of Gozo.
The nine NGOs were the Ramblers' Association of Malta, Nature Trust, Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar, Friends of the Earth, BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Helwa, GAIA, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement, and Light Pollution Awareness Group.
See also: Qala defends Qala permit at:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090728/local/mepa-defends-qala-permit