United front against PA “servility” to Portelli on Xaghra ODZ pool

by Gozo News · September 24, 2022

United front against PA "servility" to Portelli on Xaghra ODZ pool In a united front by five organisations and the Xaghra Local Council, an appeal has been submitted with the Planning Tribunal (EPRT) against the Planning Commission’s decision to approve another Joseph Portelli pool in the Marsalforn Valley.

In a joint statement on Saturday, they described it as the Planning Authority’s “servility to Portelli” with its approval of the ODZ pool.

The appeal was made possible thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign that collected, in just a few days, the necessary funds to institute legal actions against this scandalous development permit, they said.

They argued that “in a shameful spectacle of servility to big business, the Planning Commission Chairperson, Martin Camilleri, bent over backwards to please Portelli, green-lighting the application notwithstanding the case officer’s recommendation for refusal.”

The organisations went on to say that “in addition to being in ODZ, Portelli’s proposed swimming pool is also, literally, inside a valley, and forms part of the massive apartment block project at the edge of the same valley.”

They stated that the approval of a swimming pool in a valley sets a dangerous precedent for subsequent approvals of similar projects, “opening the flood gates to the destruction of our valleys and facilitating the continued rapid destruction of Gozo.”

The organisations insisted that “Martin Camilleri’s approval was in clear breach of several laws and planning policies.”

The organisations’ appeal outlines the numerous regulations that categorically prohibit the approved ODZ development, such as: the Gozo Local Plan provision which disallows development on the ridge edge; the site being within the 50 meter buffer zone from an Urban Conservation Area (UCA); and the formalisation and parcelling of ODZ land, among others.

Moreover, they said, the Planning Commission asserted that “the site was already committed, when it was not, and also conducted itself in an irregular manner throughout the proceedings when it failed to indicate its intention to approve or refuse the application during the first hearing, instead instructing the developer to carry out insignificant changes which were then used as a pretext for approval.”

The organisations said that “as can be seen from the repeated success of crowdfunding campaigns, the people of Malta and Gozo are outraged at the destruction of our urban and natural environment for the benefit of the wealthy few.”

Another crowdfunding campaign earlier this year led to an appeal being filed by Moviment Graffitti against the third application connected to Portelli’s monstrous development in Sannat.

The five organisations and Xaghra Local Council concluded by saying that, “in the face of this assault on our environment and quality of life, we are determined to continue fighting against the defacing of Gozo and Malta at the hands of developers like Joseph Portelli and rotten entities like the Planning Authority.”

Organisations filing the appeal:

Moviment Graffitti

Din l-Art Helwa

Ghawdix

Wirt Ghawdex

Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA)

Xaghra Local Council