Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1159832
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 AUGUST 2019 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE Superintendence for Cul- tural Heritage (SCH) is insist- ing that illegalities next to the derelict Riviera hotel in Ghajn Tuffieha are removed and not regularised, as requested by the owners last month. The owners of the former ho- tel's site want the sanctioning of two containers, a generator and the replacement of the di- lapidated roof of a room, which is to be used as an office. But the Superintendence not- ed the negative visual impact of the illegal structures on land which is inside an Area of High Landscape Value and what it described as a "significant cul- tural landscape". The Environment and Re- sources Authority is also ob- jecting, noting the application is in breach of the Manage- ment Plan for the Natura 2000 site in which the derelict hotel is located. The plan excludes any "human activity or man- made structure [which] ruins the landscape and threatens the ecological integrity of the site and that no illegal activi- ties shall take place within the site". The ERA also warned that approval would encourage further extensions on site, cu- mulatively leading to further pressures and intensification of development outside the building zones. The two unsightly contain- ers are currently being used for the storage of drinks and equipment next to the derelict hotel. A court case instituted by the government 11 years ago against the hotel owners, requesting their eviction from public land immediately be- neath the derelict hotel, has been dragging on for the past decade. Last April, the Lands De- partment told Mr Justice Toni Abela that negotiations be- tween the parties were taking place, yet no agreement had been reached. The case has a complicated planning history, with the first application to construct a four-star 25-room hotel being turned down by the Planning Authority in 1994. Then in 2004, the PA issued an outline permit for the dem- olition of the existing structure to build a three-storey build- ing, incorporating a restaurant and multi-purpose hall. Subse- quently the owners applied for a full permit for the three-sto- rey structure, located further away from the receding cliff- face. An Environmental Plan- ning Statement concluded that the project would represent an improvement over the present derelict hotel, since it would be a smaller structure and the surrounding debris would be removed. A renewal applica- tion was presented in 2009. Remove Ghajn Tuffieha illegalities, watchdog says