Beefbar appeals PA’s refusal of Buġibba pontoon for boats

The Beefbar owners have filed an appeal in a bid to overturn the Planning Authority’s rejection in October of their application to install a floating pontoon for boaters.

The proposal by Jean Paul Testa proposed three single-point moorings and a demountable floating pontoon to be used between May 1 and October 31.

The Beef Bar restaurant wants the pontoon to serve as a landing point for seaborne customers, owing to its coastline location, between May and mid-September. The pontoon and its gantry will cover a 600sq.m area, extending for 15m, with three single moorings some 55m off the coastline.

The development was mainly rejected because the the proposal runs counter to the Northwest Local Plan, which excludes developments that compromise public access to the foreshore. The development was also deemed to breach Strategic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED), which states that new recreational facilities should not “restrict or interfere with physical and visual public access of the coast.”

But in their appeal the developers insist that the policy in question only applies to the use of “existing structures” which are not covered by a permit adding that all existing structures in the area are endowed with a permit.

The local plan policy itself states that tourism development can be allowed only in five circumstances.  These include instances where the existing structures are covered by an existing permit and instances when “public access to the foreshore is not compromised”.

In a play on words, the developers have argued that while the PA contends the pontoon development “might” compromise public access, the policy is only applicable when public access is definitively compromised. Moreover, they contend that public access “will not be remotely compromised” by the application.

In their appeal the owners of the Beefbar refer to the clearance issued by the Environment and Resources authority, which had initially objected to the development but subsequently had a change of heart. They also insist that the area is not recognised as a swimming zone.

But environmentalists led by Din l-Art Helwa have also filed their own appeal against the PA’s decision. The appeal is not aimed at revoking the refusal but at strengthening the decision through reference to other policies which the Planning Commission had overlooked.

Din l-Art Helwa contends that the development if allowed would be in breach of a local plan policy regulating “motorised water sports.”  This policy bans moorings for jet skis and sports boats whenever the location is deemed incompatible with existing uses and whenever public access is compromised. Moreover, the policy bans moorings anchored in the sea for this purpose.  They also referred to another local plan policy regulating “jetties, pontoons and slip ways”, which specifically states that such development can only be allowed if deemed “compatible” with existing uses.

Although the area in question is not recognised as an official swimming zone, it is regularly used by bathers who frequent the area.

During the PA meeting when the application was turned down,  St Paul’s Bay Mayor Alfred Grima and lawyer Claire Bonello from Din l-Art Ħelwa argued that the area had been used for recreational swimming for years, regardless of official designation.

Commission chair Martin Camilleri warned that approving the application would set a precedent for more intense foreshore development, potentially conflicting with local plans.

Unanimously, all three commission members voted to refuse the permit.

AIS Environment, who penned Beefbar’s project development statement, acknowledged that the pontoon would increase maritime traffic, and “could lead to a domino-effect for the local commercial activities in the area”.