Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1466806
6 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 MAY 2022 NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE Gozo Ministry's masterplan for Ramla Bay includes a "reor- ganization" of existing kiosks with a uniform design for seating areas and a shading canopy. The masterplan, awaiting ap- proval by the Planning Author- ity, envisages the construction of an emergency response clin- ic and office, a brand new pub- lic convenience, and a police station instead of an already existing room. Other facilities include out- door showers and a store. An artistic impression of the proposed facilities suggests a more formalised appearance for the characteristic beach shacks, some of which grew over the years in an anarchic way. The reorganisation of the ki- osk area allocates space for five different restaurants, which largely coincides with the foot- print of the existing kiosks, a store and a waste bins area. When announcing its inten- tion to draft a masterplan in 2019, former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana declared that the aim of the masterplan was that of addressing the cur- rent challenges facing the bay, namely the need for better traf- fic management and improve- ment of facilities required to retain the Blue Flag status for the beach. On that occasion the ministry also made it clear that the existing footprint of developments around the bay was not going to change as the aim of the master plan was not to increase development in this sensitive area. Ramla Bay has been awarded blue flag status for the past four years. Clinic and police station in Ramla beach masterplan Bahrija gate not illegal, owners claim in appeal JAMES DEBONO LANDOWNERS in Baħrija are now claiming they never needed a permit to install a gate blocking public access to an old footpath that leads to the Blata tal- Melħ coastline in Baħrija, in the vicinity of Fomm ir-Riħ. The Planning Authority issued an en- forcement order demanding the removal of the gate, after it also refused the land- owners' request to regularize the gate. The PA's planning commission refused the request, saying the gate was in breach of the rural policy, which secures public access to any footpath, which already ex- isted before 1967. But the planning enforcement is now once again delayed by a fresh appeal filed by Ian Galea, one of the directors of Touchstone Limited, who is disputing the legal validity of the enforcement order and asking the Environment and Review Tribunal to revoke it. This is because the PA is precluded from removing illegal developments if an ap- peal against its enforcement action is still pending. "The planning application to sanction the gate was made with the intention of making the Authority pronounce itself in favour of a development which did not even require a permit," architect Robert Musumeci contends in the landowners' appeal. The appeal refers to the Development Planning Act, which lists the kind of de- velopments, which require a permit. In the appeal Musumeci argued that the enforcement order is based on the wrong premise that the gate was illegally con- structed, because the construction of a gate either does not constitute a develop- ment or falls within the category of devel- opments, which do not require a permit. "The application (to sanction the gate) should not be in any way misconstrued as a form of voluntary admission that there was an illegality especially since the appel- lant is presenting this appeal to rebut any allegation made against him." The Bahrija gate saga The gate has been blocking access to a passageway leading from Baħrija to il-Bla- ta tal-Melħ since April 2021. In its decision, the planning commission had indicated that the gate was blocking an established pre-1967 pathway, as de- tailed on its own official survey sheets. Subsequently, the Planning Authority issued an enforcement notice for the re- moval of the gate and publicly announced that it would remove it. But no steps have been taken to remove the illegal gate so far. The landowners have not filed an appeal against the PA's decision but have instead filed an appeal against the enforcement order asking them to remove the gate. The Rambers Association has recently called on the Planning Authority to de- clare whether enforcement or daily penal- ties will continue to be put off if an appeal is filed. The Ramblers Association has also de- nounced the "unjust" sanctioning system, through which illegal developments even in ODZ and other protected areas can be regularised after the authorities are faced with a fait accompli. The PA could not issue a planning en- forcement against the gate while it was still processing the application to sanction the gate. Moreover, through their archi- tect Robert Musumeci, the owners had already delayed enforcement action by re- questing the suspension of the application in August 2021. Moreover, daily fines are only applicable when an enforcement no- tice is issued. The 'malpractice' of carrying out illegal development to then apply for retroactive sanctioning has also been denounced on several occasions by the Environment and Resources Authority. The planning reform carried out in 2012 had removed the PA's power to sanction ODZ developments, but this decision was reversed in the reform carried out in 2015. The Ramblers Association contends that the system rewards those "who operate illegally" without "facing any consequenc- es" while penalising the public. Despite the "frustrating" situation, the association is calling on the public to be- have orderly and not trespass into other parts of the site while this matter is re- solved. The gate has been installed by Touch- stone Ltd, a company owned by the Baħri- ja landowners Eliza Limited, which had acquired the land claimed by the feudal title of the Barony of Baħria. In 2005, the company attempted to evict farmers after buying a 1,500-tumo- lo parcel from Salvatore Consoli-Paler- mo-Navarra, whose heirs sold the land for some €2.5 million.