Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1381190
7 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 JUNE 2021 NEWS TOWNSCAPES Bahrija site earmarked for closed gate marred by illegal sprawl JAMES DEBONO BAĦRIJA landowners seeking permits for development have asked the Planning Authority to green-light an illegal gate erected to block access to Blata tal-Melħ in Baħrija, an area marred by a sprawl of illegal developments carried out in the past years. Touchstone Ltd is proposing a rubble wall and a gate on site at Blata tal-Melh, the site of an illegal trapping site and a number of ille- gal structures. It also wants to build a 95m-long, 1.2m high rubble wall around land the company says it owns in the picturesque and archeologically sensitive ix-Xagħra tal-Vikarju in Baħrija. Aerial photos taken in 2018 doc- ument a number of illegal struc- tures, including a 400sq.m trap- ping site found on the Bahrija site. The large trapping site was first visible in aerial photos taken in 2016. A tiny room visible in 2004 became increasingly larger by 2008 and continued to grow in more recent years, while a new room first visible in 2012 contin- ued to grow in the past years. In a scathing report on the ap- plication, the Environment and Resources Authority insists that the trapping site and other ille- gal structures "undermine the conservation" of the Natura 2000 site. ERA is now calling for the re- moval of all unauthorised struc- tures and interventions on site and the reinstatement of the disturbed areas to their original state. The ERA is also objecting to the sanctioning of the illegally con- structed gate as this is blocking a public access leading to a shore platform known as 'Blata tal- Melh'. The public access is already visible on a 1968 survey sheet. According to ERA, the gate has increased the visual impact and clutter in an otherwise open rural area due to its design and size, the use of chicken wire fence and sign which are incompatible with the surrounding environment. ERA is also objecting to a pro- posed rubble wall, questioning its rationale in view of the "un- cultivable nature of the site" and that these constitute an "intrusive feature" in the surrounding open area. The site located in a highly sen- sitive natural area, close to the val- ley sides of il-Wied ta' Marca and close to the coastal cliffs tal-Vigar- ju. The site is mainly characterised by maquis, clay slopes, and boul- der scree. 2004 2008 2012 2016 2018 THE development of a 493sq.m parcel of the Gzira garden for a restaurant, offices, restrooms and other facilities for the yacht marina, will create an "extensive and incon- gruous volume that denies visual and physi- cal access from the garden towards the sea," the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage warned. The development is being proposed in an application presented by Transport Malta in a central part of the Council of Europe Gardens, next to an Enemalta substation and very close to the play area. A public roof garden is also being pro- posed on top of the proposed commercial development. 13 trees, including two mature pine trees impacted by the development, will be "transplanted" to other parts of the garden, although previous experience shows that relocating mature pine trees is very difficult. In its comments on the Transport Malta application, the Superintendence expressed concern on the considerable take-up of land for the development of the restaurant, offic- es and other facilities inside the long-stand- ing public garden, which "was already indi- cated as established in plans dating to the Second World War". Moreover the location of the proposed de- velopment "straddles soil covered areas and paved areas with no evident consideration for any existing formality in the garden". The application includes facilities not clearly linked to the function of a marina office. The Superintendence is now calling on the Planning Authority to ensure the pro- tection of the landscape values of the gar- den, to preserve the "architecturally valid garden space". A 25-year concession was awarded by public tender to the Gzira Gardens Marina Consortium in 2018, a project which had attracted 14 bids. But the application for an additional two pontoons presented in 2019 and that of an "operator area" which includes the proposed restaurant, have both been presented by Transport Malta, and not by the concessionaires. Another part of the garden is expected to be taken up by the relocation of an existing fuel station next to Manoel Island bridge, which will be shifted to the edge of the gar- den. So far over 120 objections have presented against the development. "COVID has shown us how green open spaces are essential to physical and mental health, yet the situation is worsening by the day as a petrol station is already approved for construction in the garden; additional buildings in this small space will destroy it forever. People need unbuilt open spaces, green- ery and clean air in this overdeveloped, over-exploited town," a Gzira resident said in one of the objections. Superintendence concerned by Gzira garden development