Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/744537
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2016 10 News GourmetToday every Saturday 16.05pm on TVM Planned zoo in Rabat has no permits from veterinary department JURGEN BALZAN LARGE cages and other struc- tures intended to house animals, including big cats, are being erected in Rabat, but the Vet- erinary Regulation Department has said it has not received any applications for a zoo in the lo- cality. The site already houses a num- ber of horses, but in reply to Maltatoday's questions, the Vet- erinary Regulation Department said that no permit for a zoo has been issued and no application has been filed for the site meas- uring some 3,700 square metres. MaltaToday is informed that the zoo is being developed with- out the necessary permits and a search on the Planning Authori- ty's webpage shows that no plan- ning permit has been issued. Excavation works are still on- going on the large tract of land in Triq il-Buskett, Rabat, but the Planning Authority did not an- swer questions on the legality of the works by the time of going to print. According to the information available online, in May 2016 the Planning Authority sanctioned repairs to existing random dry- stone rubble walls on the site. However, the works which are still ongoing include the excava- tion of garage-like rooms in the rock face, stables, an eight-metre high cage and a parameter wall which at some points is six me- tres high. Moreover, concrete has been laid on various parts of the land and a number of electricity poles have also been erected while an electric gate has been installed at the entrance. This comes a few days after the Environment and Resources Au- thority recommended a refusal of an irregularly developed zoo in Siggiewi and warned that "the commercial aspect of the project may lend itself to the sprawl of infrastructure in the area." The Arka ta' Noe zoo, which includes a white lion, two Siberi- an tigers, a black panther, mon- keys, zebras, reindeer and emus, was irregularly developed over a 10,565 square metre site – the area of two football grounds – in a site known as Ta' Bur ix-Xewk in Siggiewi, which is surrounded by an Area of High Landscape Value and near to a proposed Area of Ecological Importance between Wied il-Kbir and Wied Xkora. The Veterinary Regulation De- partment told MaltaToday that currently there are five licensed zoos in Malta and there are no pending applications for other zoos. Mintoff's former Delimara home riddled by irregularities again JAMES DEBONO THE businessman who bought Dom Mintoff's former Deli- mara summer home is seeking the Planning Authority's ap- proval for a newly constructed three-metre high room set over 12 square metres on the roof of 'l-Gharix'. The villa, located opposite the Delimara power station, was sold for a mere €250,000 to 33-year-old Fgura businessman Silvio Cassar back in 2014. A permit for the new dwelling issued in October 2015 allowed Cassar to add a swimming pool and deck to the former Labour premier's residence, as well as regularized a number of illegal- ly-built rooms built at the back of the building before 1994. The villa in its entirety was considered legal as it dates back to before 1978, the cut-off date in a policy on rural develop- ment that determines whether old buildings are legal or not. But a case officer's report had also revealed that a number of accretions on the ground and first floors were carried out without a permit. These includ- ed the rooms at the back of the building. Labour MP and architect Charles Buhagiar was then ad- vised by MEPA to include the sanctioning of these past ille- galities in the new planning ap- plication. A year later, Buhagiar has now presented an applica- tion to sanction new irregulari- ties which are in breach of the latest permit. In a judicial letter filed in January, the new owners asked Mintoff's heirs to pay €4,942 over planning illegalities and unpaid planning authority con- tributions. They also claimed that that they had purchased the property on the condition that it was covered by all the necessary permits. The permit granted in Oc- tober 2015 consisted in the demolition of internal walls and rooms, the creation of new openings, the replacement of existing roofs and the demoli- tion of existing stairwells. No objection was expressed by MEPA's Cultural Heritage Pan- el to any of these works. The historical importance of the building as the abode of the for- mer Prime Minister was never considered by MEPA when as- sessing the permit, which effec- tively puts this dwelling in the real estate market. During the processing of the application, MEPA's Environ- ment Protection Directorate also objected to the new swim- ming pool and deck which would encroach on a level 3 'area of ecological importance' and an 'area of high landscape value'. But the Planning Directorate insisted that the proposal con- formed to the existing policy which allows 75 square metre pools within the boundary of existing buildings, as long as these were not located in level 1 and level 2 'areas of ecological importance'.