Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1037099
NEWS 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 OCTOBER 2018 JAMES DEBONO HERITAGE Malta wants the revocation of a permit to de- molish a boundary wall sepa- rating Fort St Elmo from an adjacent cafeteria that wants to make way for more chairs and tables. In its appeal to the Planning Authority's review tribunal, Heritage Malta expressed con- cern that this development "will lower cultural standards" as the St Elmo entrance will be trans- formed into a cafeteria with chairs, tables and umbrellas to cater for the interests of a pri- vate business. The government body which administers the fortifications, complained that it was not even informed of the cafeteria's ap- plication and could not object to it. The wall, which will be de- molished, separates the caf- eteria from the square, which serves as the entrance for visitors to the cultural monu- ment. Heritage Malta argues that the wall was built with EU funds in a restoration project completed in 2015. "The applicant wants to de- molish a wall that had been re- constructed by Heritage Malta through EU funds and is even expecting to make use of the square which had been paved thanks to the same funds and now administrated by Heritage Malta." The permit to remove the wall dividing the open space outside Fort St Elmo entrance and The Malta Experience Café, whilst extending the outdoor dining and seating area, was approved in July. The Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage had approved the proposed works since the works were not deemed to have any negative impact on the cultural heritage. The case officer's report claims the proposed works are in line wih the development brief for St Elmo, which encourages the restoration and rehabilitation of the fort in order to attract tourists and local visitors to the southern end of Valletta. The case officer also noted that the walls earmarked for demolition have no historical significance. Heritage Malta tries to stop demolition of St Elmo wall JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resources Authority has once again called at- tention to the practice of sanctioning illegalities built in rural areas. Stables were illegally built over 110sq.m inside an extensive land- scaped area surrounded by a bound- ary wall inside the Munxar area of Marsaskala, in the vicinity of a num- ber of illegal rooms by St Thomas Bay. The incomplete works were first de- tectable in aerial photos taken by the Planning Authority in 2016 and did not appear in photos taken in 2012 and before. The boundary wall was also built after 2012. The ERA has presented photos tak- en in 2017 which suggest that works were completed in the previous year. The ERA condemned the practice of first carrying out illegal development without due consideration to the site's rural setting, and then apply- ing for sanctioning of such works and said this is objectionable in principle. "This practice is of major concern to ERA and should not be rewarded through retroactive sanctioning." The ERA said the position of the rooms at the far end from the site ac- cess resulted in more uptake of soil and land than necessary for the crea- tion of a passageway. Moreover the illegal structures and passageways resulted in the formalisation of the site. The boundary wall which ex- ceeded a 1.2m limit was described as excessive. The application to regularise the il- legalities was presented by Ronald Briffa, who is represented by architect and former MP Censu Galea. Call to refuse permits for illegal horse stables 1998 2004 2008 2012 2016 2017