Mepa auditor to probe Qala permit

The planning authority auditor, Joe Falzon, will be looking into a permit to convert a restaurant overlooking Mġarr harbour into an apartment block.

The call for an investigation was made by nine environmental groups and the Qala local council, which claimed that the Development Control Commission had taken an "irrational" decision which was "certainly not taken in the best interests of Gozo" in granting this permit.

When contacted after their statement was issued, Mr Falzon said he would be looking into the case.

The permit, originally refused by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's planning board, revolves around the well-known Gozitan restaurant Ta' Xerri l-Bukkett, a prime site in Qala.

"In spite of the well-informed recommendations of the case officers to dismiss reconsideration of the application, the Development Control Commission board irrationally overruled and decided to break structure plan and local plan policies with the usual nonchalance," the organisations claimed.

The organisations are the Ramblers' Association of Malta, Nature Trust, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Friends of the Earth, BirdLife Malta, Din l-Art Ħelwa, Gaia, Malta Organic Agriculture Movement and Light Pollution Awareness Group, which have the backing of the Qala local council.

The NGOs accused Mepa of persisting in disrespecting its own internal regulations and continuing to freely interpret local plan policies, "breaking them flagrantly at will".

According to the NGOs, the application infringes a number of policies, including the fact that large commercial areas in a purely residential zone was unacceptable and devaluated a highly scenic area.

The permit is for the construction of additional residential units, demolition of dwellings, construction of dwellings with pools and of a basement parking area, apart from sanctioning discrepancies at the existing commercial area.

They claimed both the Mepa directorate and the planning board treated "an unclear situation regarding a claim of illegality of part of the structure" very lightly, adding this alone should render the permit null.

"It is unexplainable that building infringements were ignored and permits issued when an almost adjacent habitation was denied water and electricity services for years and had its windows walled up because of building infringements," the NGOs said.

They said in such a location of pristine landscape value, which was visible to all visitors arriving by ferry, any development proposal should be totally screened and should not be obtrusive.

"The insensitive development will have serious repercussions on the remainder of the belvedere road, will lead to more development between Mġarr and Qala, negatively impact the visual impression of visitors, and irreversibly destroy the landscape value of the cliff face of the southern coast of Gozo," they said.

When contacted, a Mepa spokesman said the authority could not comment on the planning permit since the auditor was being asked to investigate.

But in a statement issued last week the authority said all policies related to the site had been respected.

It said the development could not be higher than two storeys from street level, and the application had been approved following a number of reconsiderations.