Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1477075
9 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 AUGUST 2022 New 131 room hotel complex proposed instead of Swieqi cow farm JAMES DEBONO AN application has been sub- mitted to redevelop an unsight- ly cow farm located in a buffer zone for a protected Area of Ecological Importance along the Wied Ghomor valley in an area known as Tal-Francis in Swieqi. The hotel proposal described as an "agri tourism" , consists of 131 rooms over seven levels and two underlying parking levels. Plans show the development being terraced along the to- pography of the area rising to a maximum of five storeys above street levels. A pool with deck- ing area is also being proposed. A master plan for the site shows the proposed develop- ment largely limited to the area occupied by the cow farm. The application is still at the initial stage and plans are still being assessed by the Environ- ment and Resources Authority which has to decide whether an Environment Impact Assess- ment is required. The development, is being proposed by Rodrick Fenech, who owns Mensija Real Estate Ltd who had already presented an application in 2016 foresee- ing a 116-room tourist village. The application was with- drawn following a public uproar and negative feedback from the Planning Authority. In 2018, another application was submitted by Fenech which included "the rehabilitation of abandoned building" and its redevelopment as offices. The application foresaw an "inter- pretation centre that will be available to all NGOs" and the promotion of paths from the valley to the shore in Spinola Bay. However, two years later the application was withdrawn. The ERA had immediately shot down the proposal insist- ing that the construction of of- fices outside the development zone in an Area of Ecological Importance is "inappropriate and unacceptable from an envi- ronmental point of view." The PA had already rejected two other applications present- ed by other owners. The local plan approved in 2006 makes specific reference to the cow farm ruling out any development which is not "compatible with the site's rural location, the protected status of the valley and the public's en- joyment of Wied Għomor for rural recreation." The rural policy approved in 2014 only foresees the development of one single dwelling not exceeding 200 square meters on the site of abandoned livestock farms. The original permit to con- struct a "cowshed" on an ex- isting farm dates back to Sep- tember 1975. The built up area occupies 1,300 square metres and part of the building is four storeys high. A previous application pro- posing 42 maisonettes in the ar- ea presented by previous own- er Raymond Calleja had been turned down by MEPA in 1997. The decision was reconfirmed in 1998 and 2000. The proposal was shot down because the development pro- posed was outside the devel- opment boundaries and is lo- cated in a rural conservation area where only development essential to agriculture, or which enhances the areas' sce- nic and ecological nature, can be allowed. The developer had argued that the existing cow farm is a visual eyesore and the development of villas in the vicinity of the farm threatened its legality due to the rule forbidding livestock farms, which lie fewer than 200 metres from residences. The owner even claimed that his own farm located in the val- ley bed was a threat to the water table and a source of pollution. MEPA rebutted these argu- ments, insisting that "if the ex- isting building constitutes an eyesore it should be removed and the site reinstated" to its natural state. MEPA also argued that removing a livestock farm should not serve as a pretext for urban development in the countryside. The developer asked for a re- consideration of this decision but the decision was confirmed in 1998. Two years later the re- fusal was confirmed by the Ap- peals Tribunal. An application presented by Dian Calleja in 2010 was withdrawn. Application to turn cow farm in to hotel is the fifth attempt by owners to redevelop the site