An environment tribunal has refused to sanction an illegal boathouse in a protected and scheduled area in Ġnejna Bay.

The case went to the tribunal after a planning commission declined to approve the reconstruction of part of the structure that had been damaged by rough seas.

The commission noted the boathouse had been built illegally and its location “restricts the pedestrian use of the coastline”.

It was located in a “special area of conservation of international importance” in an outside development zone and was not considered to be necessary or an improvement.

The planning policies for the area had the primary objective to “safeguard national heritage” and sanctioning the illegal boathouse would not fall in line, the commission concluded.

Access has been improved”
– boathouse owner

The owner, a registered part-time fisherman, said the boathouse was “buried” in a concrete ramp built by the government in the 1980s to be used by boats. He wanted to sanction an addition to the boathouse that had been built after a big storm in February 2005.

He said he only kept his boat there and it was not a summer residence, pointing out that two other boathouses had been connected to the water and electricity services, describing this as “absurd”.

The owner also said that access had actually improved because people could use steps, cut in the stone nearby, to get to the bay.

All this had to be taken within the context of the authorities’ plan to develop a marine park in the area, he said.

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