Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/216204
5 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 NOVEMBER 2013 e still owes €80 million propriation claims scheduled by the Planning Authority in June 1996. The PA consequently refused an application by Vella to build two villas in the bay in 1998. Another application for a diving centre in 2003 was then refused by MEPA's development control committee. And that same year, Vella asked for permission to demolish the restaurant and build residential units. The application was left pending and was never approved. Not exactly protected pensation claim. Raymond Vella had bought a substantial part of the land in Fekruna from Cerkes Limited in 1987, while another part was leased to it from the government in 1993 and redeemed in 2007. The fate of Fekruna Bay was effectively sealed in 1988, when the area that included Vella's lido was earmarked for "villa development" in the 1988 temporary provision scheme, issued by then planning minister Michael Falzon. The lido was then a site for numerous protests by residents and Green Party Alternattiva Demokratika, who demanded free public access to Fekruna Bay in the 1990s. Subsequently, the most ecologically sensitive area was The fate of Fekruna Bay was effectively sealed in 1988, when it was earmarked for "villa development" The North West Local Plan, published in 2001, listed Fekruna Bay as a protected site and redefined the development boundary set in 1988 to exclude Fekruna Bay from any future development. But Vella instituted proceedings in the Constitutional Court for compensation and MEPA shelved its decision to exclude the site from development zones. And instead of correcting the 1988 mistake, which effectively inserted the site in development zones, the 2006 local plans earmarked the area for possible development. The local plan approved by minister George Pullicino permitted the site to have a food and drink outlet, beach amenities and a retail outlet, as well as residential development limited to 30% of the total floor space on site, while retaining public access to the coast. The local plan claimed its policy aims was to ensure that any future development "retains the primary use of a leisure coastal facility" but that even some residential units could be accepted if separated from the leisure uses. Vella's application to develop the site however remained pending for the next years. Then in 2008, elected on a platform to restrain over-development, the Gonzi administration was less keen on alienating residents in the area by allowing any further development on this site. So in November 2010, MEPA issued an enforcement order on the derelict site of the Mare D'Oro restaurant in the picturesque Fekruna Bay in St Paul's Bay. On 4 March the expropriation of the land for a "public purpose" was announced in the government gazette. An agreement giving compensation to the owners was signed a day later. Works on the demolition of the res- It was two awkward planning decisions by the Nationalist government which increased the value of the land and bolstered the owners' compensation claim taurant started immediately and were reported on the Times of Malta on polling day. In October 2013, the newly elected Labour government presented plans for an upgrade of the area – covering 2,750 square metres of land. The aim of the project now is to upgrade the area to open it up to the public after the demolition of the Fekruna restaurant, which took place some months ago. The project includes a belvedere, a soft landscaped area, and timber benches, the planting of tamarisk trees and a concrete deck.