Mepa to take ‘comprehensive’ direct action at Dwejra Bay

The planning authority would take “comprehensive” direct action with regard to the various illegalities in the scenic and protected Dwejra Bay in Gozo once all the cases were finalised, a spokesman for the environment watchdog said.

“Direct action will be taken comprehensively on the site to ensure that Dwejra comes in line with its action plan,” the spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said.

Over the past year, the planning authority board refused to sanction a number of illegalities related to the Dwejra boathouses. Five applications were turned down in a hearing on Thursday and another 13 were refused in April 2010.

The requests to sanction ranged from the construction of a limestone wall, as opposed to a rubble one, the addition of an extra storey and extensions to the original structures.

However, each application – including three requests for reconsideration – was turned down by the board, which, as chairman Austin Walker pointed out, did not have a “favourable position” on sanctioning illegalities in protected areas.

The spokesman said the regulator would have to wait for the statutory 30-day time frame, during which the applicant could appeal. Once this period was up, enforcement action would be taken, the spokesman said.

Next week, the board will hear the three applications which had been postponed on the applicants’ requests because their architect or lawyer was not present at Thursday’s hearing.

According to planning policies, any boathouse built or altered after 1965 requires sanctioning and the benchmark used are aerial photos taken in 1957 and site surveys carried out in 1968.

In February 2008, a number of environmental groups had protested loudly against the approval of about 20 applications to sanction illegal structures in Dwejra. Back then, the authority had defended its decision, saying it formed part of a process that went back to 2005 called the Dwejra Heritage Park Action Plan. But, on Thursday, Mr Walker pointed out that sanctioning such illegalities “was not in line with the special area of conservation, scheduled areas and goes against the public interest – especially for Dwejra, which is highly ecologically sensitive.”