Illegal Bahrija gate exposes Malta’s enforcement sham

An illegal gate blocking access to ramblers at Blata tal-Melħ in Baħrija for the past 10 months, still stands despite having been erected in a protected Natura 2000 site.

Now a ‘suspension’ of the landowners’ application to sanction the development is further prolonging the process, with the Planning Authority prevented from taking any decision until February.

The gate, first flagged by the Malta Ramblers’ Association in March 2021, blocks off access to an area that used to be popular with hikers intent on exploring the Natura 2000 site’s rich cultural and natural heritage. This scenic pathway blocked by the gate is the easiest way to reach the popular coastal recreational spot known as Blata tal-Melħ, from Baħrija.

But this enforcement farce is the direct result of a decision in 2015 to reintroduce the right for developers to sanction developments in the ODZ. The planning reform of 2012, carried out in the twilight of the Gonzi administration, had removed this right after decades of abuse, but then was reintroduced by a Labour government in its planning reforms in 2015.

A spokesperson for the Planning Authority explained that since a sanctioning application has been submitted on the Baħrija gate, no further enforcement action can be taken at this stage. Only if the application is withdrawn or refused, will an enforcement notice be issued. Moreover, daily fines are only applicable when an enforcement notice is issued. But in this case, if the application is approved, a “sanctioning fine” normally equivalent to the daily fine, will be applicable.

But the developers’ architects used another planning loophole by requesting the suspension of the application in August 2021. The PA spokesperson confirmed that the application is suspended until 4 February 2022, or until the architect reactivates the application, whichever comes first.

Yet over 2,200 objections were submitted against the regularisation of the blatant illegality.

In its submissions on the application, the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) said that the proposed sanctioning was not acceptable in an Outside Development Zone (ODZ), “let alone within a protected Area of Ecological Importance and Natura 2000”.

“The current access should therefore remain unhindered,” ERA’s report adds, pointing out that the area is considered to have special conservation and protection status under the Habitats and Wild Bird Directives.

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage expressed concern on this application, noting that the site in question is located in a pristine cultural landscape in an area is of considerable archaeological sensitivity with numerous examples of cart ruts recorded in the surrounding landscape. The Baħrija Bronze Age Settlement is located just over 100m to the north.

Apart from sanctioning the gate, the company, Touchstone Ltd, also wants to build a 95m-long, 1.2m high rubble wall around land the company says it owns in the picturesque and archeologically sensitive ix-Xagħra tal-Vikarju in Baħrija. The rubble wall will effectively turn the open and scenic walkway into a corridor.

The company is owned by the Baħrija landowners Eliza Limited, which had acquired the land claimed by the feudal title of the Barony of Baħria.

Back in 2005, the company had attempted to evict farmers after buying a 1,500-tumolo parcel from Salvatore Consoli-Palermo-Navarra, whose heirs sold the land for some €2.5 million.