The Mepa board members this afternoon unanimously approved the transfer of the Munchies Kiosk from the middle of Golden Bay to a site adjacent to the car park.

The kiosk must be dismantled by the end of next month.

Artist impression provided by Mepa.

The decision, coincidentally, was taken while attention was focused on another kiosk which was set up in the morning in the middle of De Valette Square in Valletta and had still not been removed by 2 p.m., despite an outcry.

Six spaces will be lost at the Golden Bay parking to make way for the Munchies relocation .

The kiosk will occupy 24 square meters of the car park and another 500 square meters of the beach under the car park.

The planning directorate admitted in its comments on the case that the development does not fully comply with the local plan, adding that the positive recommendation for this application was “an attempt at resolving the enforcement situation”.

Last May, the planning authority issued an enforcement notice over the extension of the restaurant to a structure covering 465 square metres. Mepa was unequivocal in stating the entire structure was considered illegal.

The authorities want the kiosk removed so that the bay may be granted Blue Flag status.

Artist impression provided by Mepa.

The owner had appealed the enforcement notice, arguing that the illegality referred only to an extension he had to build to meet licensing requirements.

He pointed out that he had been paying a fee to the government for rent of the site since 1987 and his licence as a catering establishment has been renewed yearly by the Malta Tourism Authority.

Mepa had to postpone this decision by a week following the controversy that erupted at the last hearing. The neighbouring Spiaggia d’Oro kiosk claimed the right of use of part of the land where the new restaurant will be located.

Despite Spiaggia d’Oro having been served an enforcement notice in 2010 for a list of planning infringements, the lawyer representing the owner, Francis Tanti, threatened to apply for an injunction against the development by Munchies.

The owners of the two kiosks will now be resolving the issue among themselves but objections by the adjacent kiosk were dropped.