The Planning Authority has given the go-ahead for a ‘temporary’ kiosk in Ħondoq ir-Rummien, Gozo, a move which, environmentalists insist, was not in line with guidelines in force.

This was possibly the “beginning of the end of protection for Ħondoq ir-Rummien”, the environmentalists said.

The planning commission, presided over by Elizabeth Ellul, reversed the decision it made a few months ago.

In July 2015, Frank Portelli, the owner of a restaurant in Qala, and Justin Debono applied to place a mobile kiosk at Ħondoq ir-Rummien. The case officer had recommended a refusal as the application was not in line with guidelines for kiosks the planning authority had issued in 1994. As a result, the Planning Commission had refused the application.

According to the commission’s decision last February, Ms Ellul had pointed out that the application “was being suspended until a master plan for the area is finalised”.

The PA was asked what had changed since February once the master plan for the Ħondoq area had not been published yet. A spokesman said the Planning Commission had now noted that “in the absence of a master plan for the area, as had been the case with other similar cases in the Ramla area, the application does not infringe the Qala local plan policy since it provides a basic beach amenity”. The permit was valid for two years or until the approval of the master plan for the area, he said.

Environmentalists familiar with the picturesque area, which lies outside a development zone, pointed out that the only kiosk in the area had been there for 30 years and the authorities had always resisted attempts to have more in order to protect the place.

“The same PA policy stipulates that there cannot be more than one kiosk in the area and the only one there is has been there for 30 years.

“However, now it seems that everything is possible at the Planning Authority and a ‘temporary’ permit has become possible,” Gozitan environmentalists commented.

Ms Ellul and Mariello Spiteri voted in favour of the ‘temporary’ permit while Simon Saliba voted against.

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com