The Planning Authority has refused to legalise an 'animal park' in Żebbuġ, which had been illegally developed on agricultural land outside development zones.

In a hearing on Thursday, the PA board voted six to four against an application to sanction the conversion of the site at Ta’ l-Andar, outside Żebbuġ, into a complex of animal enclosures and other permanent structures, including a swimming pool and large timber structure referred to as a lecture hall.

The site has been subject to a pending enforcement notice since 2005. Plans to regularise its use as an animal park - housing deer, kangaroos, owls and other birds - had been recommended for refusal due to environmental concerns and policy issues.

At a first hearing last month, a majority of members indicated they would nevertheless vote to approve the project, citing “humanitarian considerations” after the applicant presented an agreement with Puttinu Cares to allow patients to use the facilities, including the swimming pool, for free for rehabilitation purposes.

But the board returned to the original recommendation when it met again for a formal vote on Thursday, shooting down the proposal.

The application had raised objections from the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), which said that as there were no valid permits on the site, the proposal was of “significant environmental concern, namely since the interventions resulted in over-development of the site”.

The environment watchdog also expressed concern over future demands for development once the use had become established, noting that the application proposed an area of adjacent undeveloped fields “for future expansion”.

Din l-Art Ħelwa, meanwhile, said it was against sanctioning within ODZ areas and that most of the works were carried out before obtaining a permit.

Last October, the PA board had agreed to legalise an illegal zoo in Siġġiewi, despite similar concerns from the environment authority. The zoo, set over more than 10,500 square metres of agricultural land and a disused quarry, had been approved after the applicant argued its therapeutic value for children with a disability, and after an agreement to facilitate free school visits – which could not take place due to an Education Department ban.

The rejected Żebbuġ application is a few hundred metres away from the site of Mark Gaffarena's proposed agritourism development. That application, still undergoing screening, would sanction illegal buildings and a swimming pool which have been used to host events, and build stables, a bird sanctuary and accommodation facilities.