Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1539741
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 SEPTEMBER 2025 NEWS CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The tribunal decision con- firms that long-established public pathways must remain open even when they cross pri- vate land, marking a significant victory for the Ramblers Asso- ciation. The organisation has fought tooth and nail against the installation of this gate and others in the Maltese country- side. Public access trumps private ownership Touchstone Limited, owned by a group of Baħrija landown- ers, argued that the footpath runs on private property and that closing it with a gate did not contravene planning policy. The company's appeal, submit- ted through architect Robert Musumeci, claimed that pre- 1967 pathways on private land are not automatically consid- ered "public country pathways" under Policy 1.2I of the 2014 Rural Development Guidelines. Touchstone also argued that they did not need a planning permit to construct the gate arguing that this fell within cat- egories that do not require a permit. Musumeci emphasised that the planning application to sanction the gate was intended to obtain a formal declaration from the Planning Authority on the status of the gate and was not an admission of illegality. The tribunal, however, reject- ed these arguments, empha- sising that the public right of passage takes precedence even when a path crosses private land. It noted that the footpath has been in regular use for dec- ades, with survey sheets from 1957 marking the route. It also forms part of a network of ru- ral pathways protected as pub- lic recreational resources. The tribunal also referenced histor- ical and contemporary evidence confirming the path's long- standing use, including publica- tions such as Harrison Lewis's A Guide to the Remote Paths and Lanes of Ancient Malta (1974) and Jonathan Henwood and Emmet McMahon's The Mal- ta Coastal Walk (2013), which identifies the passage as a key walking route to Blata tal-Melħ. Ramblers' victorious battle The tribunal also considered an affidavit submitted by Ram- blers Association President In- gram Bondin, which detailed how the gate obstructs pub- lic access along a substantial stretch of coastline from Baħri- ja, specifically affecting the Bla- ta tal-Melħ. This is a coastal recreation area frequented by walkers and the general public. He explained that the passage has historically been the most direct and accessible route to the site, with no practical al- ternative paths for the gen- eral public. Bondin included photographs documenting the blocked area, copies of 1968 survey sheets showing the foot- path marked with dotted lines and identified as a footpath, and evidence from multiple walks organised by the Ramblers As- sociation, including one in July 2007 attended by then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. Aerial photographs from 2004 and 2016, along with illustra- tions from guidebooks pub- lished by the Malta Tourism Authority, further confirmed the route's long-standing public use. The tribunal also referred to established case law, including Frank Attard vs Anthony Far- rugia et al, which confirms that a landowner who permits pub- lic use of a private route cannot later block it, effectively creat- ing a servitude of passage. The tribunal agreed with the Plan- ning Authority that sanctioning the gate would obstruct a pre- 1967 footpath, contravening ru- ral policies designed to protect public access, safeguard areas of high landscape value, and main- tain coastal objectives. It em- phasised that ownership of the land is irrelevant when consid- ering public access under Policy 1.2I, which applies "irrespective of their type of ownership." Touchstone had suggested that alternative routes, such as walking along the coast from Ras ir-Raheb or Miġra il-Ferħa are available for the public. But the Ramblers Association ar- gued that these alternatives are impractical for the general pub- lic. The alternative route from Ras ir-Raheb requires crossing a steep section of rock known as il-Ħalq, while the route from Miġra l-Ferħa involves walking around 6km to reach the Blata tal-Melħ and back, making the blocked footpath the most di- rect and practical option for the general public. The gate saga The gate, installed in April 2021, has been at the centre of a protracted dispute. The Planning Authority issued an enforcement order demand- ing the removal of the gate. A year later the PA refused the landowners' request to regular- ise the gate. The PA's planning commis- sion refused the request, saying the gate was in breach of the ru- ral policy, which secures public access to any footpath, which al- ready existed before 1967. This decision was confirmed in the Tribunal's landmark decision. But an appeal filed by Ian Galea one of the directors of Touchstone Limited against the planning enforcement issued in 2021 is still pending. This could further delay the removal of the gate in question. The gate has been installed by Touchstone Ltd, a compa- ny owned by the same Baħrija landowners who back in 2005 had tried to evict a number of farmers from a 1,500-tumo- lo land parcel they had bought from the Barony of Bahria. Environment and Planning Review Tribunal delivers landmark ruling with far-reaching implications