Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531651
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 JANUARY 2025 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt ERA objects to hotelier's bid to relocate Xaghra farmhouse to pristine site in ODZ area THE Environment and Resourc- es Authority (ERA) is opposing the relocation of an old farm- house to a pristine site in an out- side development zone. Hotelier Alfred Refalo wants to shift the farmhouse outside the Xagħra site where he is currently constructing a 58-room hotel. Nonetheless, ERA has deemed this request to be unacceptable. Refalo had initially applied to demolish the farmhouse to make way for the hotel, which was approved in 2019. However, during the application process, the Superintendence of Cultur- al Heritage strongly objected to the demolition, insisting that the building should be integrated in- to the proposed project. The Planning Commission subsequently instructed the de- veloper to dismantle and recon- struct parts of the existing farm- house within the same site, in a different position, as outlined in a restoration method statement presented in 2018. Now, Refalo is proposing to re- locate the farmhouse entirely to another site outside the bounda- ry of the rural hamlet in an ODZ area. Although the proposed site is close to the area where the ho- tel is being built, it falls within the boundaries of the Żebbuġ council. In a strong objection to the ap- plication, the ERA reminded the Planning Authority that it had previously objected to the ho- tel development, which extends over undeveloped land in the ru- ral hamlet. ERA noted that Refalo is now proposing to reconstruct the farmhouse in a completely new location, with a larger built foot- print, within an undeveloped ODZ area beyond the rural ham- let. "There is no valid justification for relocating the farmhouse from its current location within a rural hamlet and adjacent to a main road to a completely dif- ferent site that is more environ- mentally sensitive in open coun- tryside," the ERA stated. It added that the construction of a farmhouse on this site would result in the introduction of ur- ban uses in the area, visual im- pacts on the surrounding open landscape, the loss of the rural characteristics of the area, and land take-up. The ERA also expressed con- cern that approval could trigger requests for further extensions including pool areas. Although the hotel, which is currently under construction, will be partly located with- in a designated rural hamlet, its footprint extends into the neighbouring countryside, over- looking the valley between Mar- salforn and Xagħra. Moreover, hotels are not listed among the types of development allowed in rural hamlets under the Gozo Local Plan. Now, five years after the origi- nal approval, Refalo is proposing to relocate the farmhouse to an ODZ site approximately 80 me- tres from its original location, raising concerns about urban sprawl on natural land. Hotelier Alfred Refalo wants to relocate a vernacular building from a rural hamlet along a main road, where he is building a hotel, to a pristine site overlooking terraced fields Pristine site where hotel owner wants to relocate farmhouse.