Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1358359
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 APRIL 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO A reform of the controversial ru- ral policy which gives the Planning Authority a magic wand to change rural ruins into villas with pools, is still ongoing since the review started back in October 2019. The PA is attributing the delay to the time needed to assess the "voluminous" submissions it has received. 17 months since it announced a review of the controversial rural policy, following public outrage at a permit for construction magnate Joseph Portelli to turn a ruin in Qala into a villa, there is no sign of changes for the controversial policy. Although Portelli had withdran the Qala application, the policy permitting similar developments is still in place, such as one recent permit for a villa outside the Zab- bar building zone being issued. Over six months have passed since the conclusion of a six-week public consultation on the draft policy published last July, hailed by Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia as one minimising devel- opment in rural areas and "limit- ing it to genuine projects". The policy will require another round of public consultation be- fore the policy is given the seal of approval by the government. It is the length of time between the two obligatory rounds of pub- lic consultation, which determines the length of the review process. In the case of the controversial fuel station policy, this process took two years and a half. The risk is that in the intermediate period, PA boards will still be ex- pected to approve permits under the discredited policy. Moreover, even when such permits are not approved, developers can present appeals based on the 2014 policy. More than half a year later, a PA spokesperson has confirmed that the rural policy is currently being reviewed following the analysis of the public submissions during the consultation held in mid-2020. "The submissions received were voluminous and required detailed assessment to identify the issues and propose changes to the text of the public consultation draft. The revised draft will be published once this exercise is completed," the PA told MaltaToday. The proposed policy draft issued for public consultation in 2020 will preclude the repetition of egre- gious cases in which the Planning Authority's planning commission, formerly chaired by Elizabeth El- lul, approved the reconstruction of ruins, even rubble piles, into brand new villas with swimming pools. The draft policy issued last year excludes the redevelopment of ruins and any redevelopment is limited to buildings, which can ac- tually accommodate a dwelling. In the new policy a "ruin" is defined as a dilapidated structure, which has lost all, or the majority of its supporting walls. If the draft policy published last year is approved permission may still be granted for a limited ex- tension to an existing dwelling in rural areas, but only in two cases; if a dwelling is covered by a devel- opment permission and is used as a dwelling today or if the property in question was visible on the 1978 aerial photos and was used as a residence prior to that date. This effectively excludes the ex- tension or redevelopment of old properties which predate the in- troduction of planning rules, but which were not used as dwellings in 1978. As proposed, the new policy militates against the mushroom- ing of 'stores' by people posing as farmers or who possess very little farmland to justify erecting a new building as farmers owning fewer than 10 tumuli will not be allowed to build any store. Under the pro- posed new policy stables will on- ly be allowed within the defined boundary of a legally established rural dwelling. The old policy per- mitted stables outside the bound- ary of rural dwellings. The new policy no longer per- mits the conversion of disused livestock farms into brand new dwellings. This removes one of the most blatant loopholes in the 2014 policy, which led to the approval of villas with pools instead of pig or cow farms left abandoned for over 10 years. Moreover as pro- posed the policy does not permit the construction of new tourist accommodation facilities in the countryside limiting agritourism to existing buildings. Environmental NGOs had wel- comed the proposed changes but had proposed removing the auto- matic right given to ODZ dwell- ings to have a pool and for the removal of zoos from the list of developments, which can be al- lowed in the ODZ. Unfinished business: discredited rural policy still in place 17 months after review started Qala ruins: almost became a villa JAMES DEBONO S T A B I L I S A T I O N plans to protect Gozo's fabled Calypso cave are making way for a new souvenir shop and in- terpretation centre, raising the eyebrows of the heritage watchdog. The plans also foresee a 44sq.m interpreta- tion centre that will in- clude a souvenir shop, new walkways, and sanitary facilities on the promontory over- looking Ramla l-Ħam- ra. But the Superin- tendence for Cultur- al Heritage expressed concern on what it de- scribed as the "inten- sification of develop- ment at this location". Requesting a justi- fication for the pro- posed works, the SCH insisted that the area was deriving its val- ue "primarily from its relatively pristine con- dition", which it said should be kept. The site footprint is also scheduled as a Site of Archaeological Im- portance. Contacted by Malta- Today a Gozo Ministry spokesperson defend- ed the proposed works, describing Calypso's cave as a popular tour- ist destination not only visited for the cave it- self, but for the pano- ramic view of Ramla Bay from the promon- tory within which this cave is located. The ministry said re- cent rock instability had led to the collapse of part of the cave, ne- cessitating the cordon- ing-off of the cave and the adjacent viewing platform, as the rock was deemed to be dan- gerous to visitors. The works are pri- marily intended to consolidate the friable rock face to remove the existing danger and making Calypso Cave accessible again, while also providing an improved visitor's ex- perience. But the ministry in- sists that the visitor's interpretation centre will be replacing the old sanitary facilities which are already ons- ite. "As Ministry for Gozo we are entrust- ed to safeguard the historical and cultural aspect of Gozo. That is why an application has been submitted to the Planning Authority to carry out the nec- essary intervention to preserve this historical site." Calypso works come with souvenir shop, raising watchdog's eyebrows