Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/992522
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JUNE 2018 JAMES DEBONO THE new rules for building houses inside rural areas have just provided yet another text- book case as to how the Planning Authority is allowing ruins to be turned into massive country homes of over 200 square me- tres. Only this month, the PA's planning commission approved a 210sq.m dwelling in the Ger- zuma valley, just off the Kun- cizzjoni chapel, on the site were four separate dilapidated rooms of 3sq.m to 80sq.m previously stood. The original request for a per- mit was turned down in 2012. Then the decision was appealed, and the application was referred back for a decision by the plan- ning commission, to be assessed according to new rules in the PA's rural policy guidelines which make building outside de- velopment zones (ODZ) easier. The structures are just 100 metres from cliffs inside Natura 2000 'Special Areas of Conserva- tion'. Back in 2009, this proposal was already said to have a negative impact on the area's rural char- acter by the PA's own natural heritage panel. But the present-day rural poli- cy allows the "rehabilitation and change of use" of vernacular buildings, and the extension of any ODZ dwelling up to a maxi- mum floor space of 200sq.m. In this case the owner present- ed a "restoration method state- ment" to ensure the preservation of some of the walls of the exist- ing rooms. But the case officer's report actually shows that the proposal will involve "substantial lateral and vertical extensions" in breach of the same rural policy. "However, the Planning Di- rectorate understands that the current complex, which has a vernacular value worthy of conservation, presents a sig- nificant challenge to adapt it to modern standards of living," the case officer then says, argu- ing for the preservation of the internal thick walls. The finished construction will be that of a contemporary-look- ing structure linking the central main complex to the small com- plex of rooms to its north. A sec- ond floor was justified as a way to "reduce the need to physically intervene on the original fabric." Since the buildings were deemed to have "vernacular" val- ue, the applicant was not obliged to prove that the rooms had been used as a dwelling, that is, having had a minimum living area of 100sq.m. In this case, the habitable area was of 82sq.m, but the discrep- ancy was overlooked as being "slightly less" than that foreseen by policy. The "negligible" devia- tion was justified on the grounds that some 30% of the original building's footprint was taken up by thick walls. Before 2012, the owners had failed to conclusively demon- strate that the building had been used as a residence, and a site plan attached to notarial deeds submitted in their application was found "not to relate in any way to the structures under this application". But the case officer concluded in an analysis of the architecture that the core building had been used as a dwelling. The case of- ficer proposed a 200sq.m terrace to surround the dwelling so as to provide pedestrian access from the gate as well as an accessible outdoor area. The Planning Commission ap- proved the development on con- dition that the area dedicated to timber flooring and grass blocks is reduced and five Sandarac gum trees (gharghar) and five Holm oak trees are planted. NEWS JAMES DEBONO THE first-ever electric and gas-powered charging sta- tion is being planned on a 3,600sq.m patch of land out- side development zones on Mdina Road in Qormi, next to the KIA showroom. The proposal – by KIA import- ers Easysell and owner Anthony Fenech, of Tum Invest – does not include conventional fuel. The Mdina Road site is fallow and does not include agricultur- al land but is used as a makeshift car park. But the project has an uncanny similarity to mega fuel stations being built outside building zones, since it will come with an extensive car wash area, and a gas and retail shop. It also in- cludes solar panels on the roof of the retail outlet. Back in 1996 the PA had re- fused an application to relocate a petrol station from the Qormi village core to this very site, then presented by another owner. The irony between intro- ducing a shift to electric cars – which would render petrol pumps obsolete – and approv- ing more petrol stations in the countryside thanks to a policy approved in 2015, has not been lost on environmentalists. The controversial policy regulating ODZ fuel stations only refers twice to electric cars, stating that stations which provide cars with an electrical charge top-up service are also deemed to fall within the scope of this policy. Moreover, petroleum filling stations, whether new or relo- cated, must also include at least one nozzle for the sale of biofu- els or other alternative fuels, and one charging point for electric vehicles. The policy does foresee the existence of fuel stations which do no not sell combustible fu- el – by making their approval easier since "parameters relat- ing to safety distances applica- ble for combustible fuels may be relaxed if combustible fuel dispensers do not feature in the proposal". The fuel stations policy is pres- ently being reviewed with ERA proposing a complete ban on ODZ fuel stations including those located opposite or adja- cent to industrial areas and area of containments, as is the site in question. Fenech had already proposed an ODZ petrol station in St Paul's Bay but his application was nullified by the approval of another petrol station a few metres away since the present policy bans fuel stations within a 500km radius of each other. First 'electric' fuel station proposed in Qormi Country villas rise from ashes of dilapidated farmsteads Green light from the PA for a 200sq.m country home to be built instead of scattered rooms in Kuncizzjoni