Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/707940
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2016 7 News Tribunal approves billboard in rural area JAMES DEBONO A billboard set in an agricultur- al zone along Triq Ghajn Tuffie- ha in Mgarr, which was deemed inappropriate by the Planning Authority's board, has been ap- proved by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal. The illuminated billboard will be facing traffic oncoming from iz-Zebbiegh. In a memo issued in March 2014 the PA's Environmental Protection Directorate had "ob- jected in principle" against the development of the billboard in this "agricultural area" and the development of a permanent base for the billboard. The case officer called on the Environment Planning Com- mission to refuse the applica- tion because the proposed bill- board did not fall within any of the designated sites indicated on maps in the policy issued in 2006 regulating the location of billboards. The applicant argued that the billboard could be permitted because the 2006 policy also al- lowed new billboards on sites, which are not indicated in maps included in the policy, if these are similar to the designated ar- eas. But the policy also states that when assessing whether any particular site is suitable for the display of billboards, signs or other forms of outdoor advertis- ing, "the general considerations should be the land use of the area, the scale and massing of existing buildings and whether there are any features of envi- ronmental, architectural or his- toric interest in the vicinity". The case officer argued that the proposal was incompatible with the agricultural nature of the area and warned that "any additional billboards outside designated sites would lead to a proliferation of advertising bill- boards along roads, especially in ODZ areas. The site is also lo- cated in an archeologically sen- sitive area. The Review tribunal had origi- nally refused the appeal on the basis that the road where the billboard was to be located was an access road and not an arte- rial road. But this decision was over- turned by the court of appeal which deemed that the reason given by the tribunal was an in- valid one. The permit had to be evaluated on the merit of wheth- er the billboard respected its surroundings or not. In its final decision the tribu- nal concluded that the billboard was acceptable according to the policy approved in 2006 and that Transport Malta had found no objection to the application. JAMES DEBONO THE Environment Resources Authority has come out strongly against sanctioning of planning irregularities at The Arches, a roadside inn in Triq il-Hammiet in Victoria, Gozo. The hotel 's owners have ap- plied to regularise illegalities deviating from a permit issued in 1969 consisting of a basement and a pool and to turn the road- side inn into a boutique hotel. Aerial photos on the author- ity's website show that the pool was developed illegally between 2008 and 2012. In submissions to the Planning Authority, the Environment Resources Authority lashed against "the malpractice of first carrying out development with- in ODZ without the required permits and subsequently ex- pecting the regulatory authori- ties to retroactively sanction a fait accompli." ERA has also described the irregular pool as incompatible with the rural characteristics of the area and as a "f lagrant ex- ample" of disregard for environ- mental considerations. According to ERA the approval of this application would create an "undesirable precedent for similar future developments in the area." The owners have committed themselves to remove a num- ber of demountable tents, which were also developed irregularly. ERA lashes out at "malpractice" of retroactive sanctioning Against regularising roadside inn's illegalities Development as seen in aerial photos taken in 1978, 2004, 2008 and 2012