Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/850837
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 JULY 2017 8 News CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 "As such there are no words to ex- press the fulfilment for serv- ing as a PN MP, a privilege I shall cherish for life. So one can only imagine the sense of pride this grass root encour- agement instilled in me." Grech was the lead execu- tive driving the development and implementation of Mal- ta's information society and e-Government efforts. He worked at senior levels in the public sector for over 14 years in various roles, including those of Head of Secretariat of the Ministry responsible for Investment, ICT, Infra- structure and public invest- ments (2003-2008) and also as chairman of the Malta IT Agency (2008-2011). Between 2008 and 2009 he also served as the first CEO of SmartCity Malta and in 2010, he set up his own boutique consultancy practice in the field of strat- egy execution and change management. Xtra Sajf Wednesday TVM 20:50 Grech to concentrate on constituency and "the dark side of society" Grech vows to continue representing the silent majority that believes in what the PN always stood for Kalanka developer wants big agricultural store instead of three rural rooms JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Resourc- es Authority is "strongly" object- ing to an application proposing the replacement of three sepa- rate rural rooms previously used as bird hides with one larger building in Kalanka, Delimara. The application has been pre- sented by Kenneth Abela, a reg- istered farmer and developer, who is also proposing the recon- struction of the nearby Kalanka hotel over a larger footprint. It was only last year that two of the structures – previously used as trapping hides – were regu- larised by the Planning Author- ity to be turned into agricultural stores despite strong objections by the Environment and Re- sources Authority. Now Abela wants to demolish these structures and an older structure and replace them with a store built over 62m2. The new store, which will have a ground floor and basement level, will include an under- ground level and will consist of a fertilizer store, a honey and bee hive store and a tractor shed. Din l-Art Helwa has described the application as an attempt "to demolish little rural rooms to amalgamate the footprint of these structures into one large building" which contrasts with the rural landscape. In a separate application Abela has also applied for four 41m2 glass houses in an area which according to ERA is not an agri- cultural area. The proposed development is located within the scheduled coastal cliffs, which are afforded a Level 2 degree of protection as an Area of Ecological Impor- tance ERA has shot down the latest two applications noting that "it is evident that the applicant is using the application approved last year as a stepping stone to gain further development per- missions to commit a site with piecemeal developments". According to ERA the cur- rent planning applications (PA 3653/17 & PA 3698/17) also re- flect previous ERA concerns: "once initial permission/s is granted, further extensions/an- cillary facilities, inevitably fol- low, altering the site's natural character to a different setting". In a report on the previous ap- plication, the ERA noted that over the years, the site has been systematically altered with ap- parent land scarring as a result of bird trapping activity. This was carried out before Abela took over the land in question and decided to stop these activities. But the ERA also pointed that through his applications Ab- ela "is seeking to reclaim the re- maining karstland and through further soil deposition" to be used as a leverage to obtain per- mission for the sanctioning of the existing structures on site (bird hides) and the construc- tion of new ancillary facilities. Interviewed by MaltaToday last year Abela, a registered farmer and owner of a billboard company, had justified his inter- ventions in the area as a way to eradicate illegalities on the site. The entrepreneur proposing to redevelop a derelict hotel at il-Kalanka in Delimara has also acquired 23,135 square metres of rural land in the vicinity of the proposed hotel. Abela acquired the land in July 2014, over a year before submit- ting his application to rebuild the derelict hotel. He insists that his sole interest in the land is ag- ricultural. Part of the land already be- longed to Abela's family since the early 1990s and was bought directly for €110,000 from Ark- en Limited, a company belong- ing to Kenneth Abela and his brother Aaron. Another portion, a one-twelfth share of a larger 90,000 square metre property, was bought for €90,000 from the Moroni Testaferrata Viani estate. Abela signed a promise-of-sale agreement for the Delimara ho- tel in June 2015, before acquir- ing it in August. Apart from regularising the two rural structures the PA also has ignored the ERA in approv- ing a 100 metre long and 1.8 metre high wall around the der- elict Delimara hotel. Indigenous shrubs will screen the wall. The land in Kalanka where the store is being proposed