Clashes with an individual claiming private ownership of paths and a medieval settlement in Simblija, limits of Dingli, have led farmers to call for the agricultural lease to be renegotiated, ensuring access to all.

The area, which includes fields and the important historic site and public pathways, has, since 1993, been designated as one tenement split between nine farmers who have the right to use the land.

The Times of Malta is informed that eight of the farmers have now written to the government asking for the heritage site and pathways to be extrapolated from the lease and the lease on the remaining area to be renegotiated.

The move would ensure access both for the farmers and for members of the public, who for years have been embroiled in a saga with Noel Ciantar, another farmer in the area, who says the land, leased from the government, is his private property.

Two farmers who spoke to this newspaper said they had for years been intimidated and denied access to their fields by Mr Ciantar. They said that on repeated occasions they had been confronted aggressively by Mr Ciantar and also found access to their areas barred or the entrances chained.

Members of the public, meanwhile, have been denied access to Simblija, a historically significant complex of caves and 300-year old structures, which was the site of an EU-funded restoration project in 2003.

The Ramblers Association, which has long campaigned for public access to the site, says its members have been repeatedly confronted by Mr Ciantar when attempting to visit.

Video footage seen by this newspaper shows one such incident last Sunday, with Mr Ciantar appearing to be demanding aggressively that the ramblers leave the area while calling the group “Nazis and communists”.

Both the ramblers and farmers in the area said they had never had any issue with each other, with the farmers insisting they respected the public’s right of access to the historic site, which features in tourist guidebooks.

Mr Ciantar has put up signs and warning letters on site.

A commemorative plaque and explanatory maps and panels installed during the 2003 restoration, taken to indicate the public’s right of access, have been removed by unknown individuals.

When contacted following the confrontation with the ramblers, Mr Ciantar insisted his family had a legal title to the land and that the restoration project had been carried out in full respect of his ownership rights, with no intention to grant public access.

He described the claims that he was illegally blocking public access as untrue and defamatory, repeatedly stressing his legal rights.

“They are claiming I have misappropriated the land, which is a serious and a criminal accusation,” he said. “My family has been the victim of harassment over the last 10 years, which has prevented us from making full use of our private land.”