Baia beach: PA to send inspectors to verify illegal works claim

The Planning Authority will be sending its enforcement inspectors to verify whether works on the Baia beach club envisaged in a planning application which still has to be determined, have been already carried out.

The order was given by Planning Commission chairman Martin Camilleri this morning as the board was discussing whether a permit should be issued for a roof top restaurant area on top of the lido’s roof which will also include a 2.8-meter-high lift shaft.

In fact, in the latest plans the developer had agreed to lower the height of the lift shaft by 40cm to minimise the visual impact of the development as requested by the Planning commission in a previous sitting.

But during the meeting Birdlife representative Nicholas Barbara presented photos taken last Sunday showing that the lift shaft is already built up on top of the lido’s roof top.

The lift shaft is not visible in Google Earth photos dated to 2016, or in aerial photos on the PA’s map server taken in 2018. But the lift shaft is visible on photos showing the permit application notice attached to the lido in October 2022.

Project architect Wayne Scerri categorically denied that any illegal works were carried out after the application was presented but referred to works carried out as a result of a previous permit issued in 2019 aimed at regularising minor alterations to the bathrooms of the lido located at ground floor level.

In fact, the current application also foresees the regularisation of the “redesigned concrete patio” in a different layout from that approved in previous permits.

 Board member Carmelo Caruana made it clear that if it transpires that works were carried out illegally after the application was presented, the application would have to be withdrawn.

The decision on whether to allow the lido to use the roof as a restaurant had been postponed after the architect of the project asked for a revision of the contribution to be paid to the PA’s Urban Improvement Fund following changes made to the roof top plans which reduce the circulation area.

The application for the an unsheltered 120sq.m rooftop seating area and the sanctioning of an adjacent sunbed area, have been recommended for approval by the case officer. But in a meeting held last month the Planning Commission had requested a reduction in the overall height of the proposed lift shaft and the inclusion of conditions related to light pollution.

On his part Barbara welcomed the fact that conditions have been imposed limiting light pollution on the lido’s roof.

But Barbara called for conditions to limit noise pollution and the use of the roof for events which go beyond its use as a restaurant. 

Barbara justified restrictions on noise levels in view of the proximity of the site to bird colonies and to the neighbouring Natura 2000 site.

The project’s architect said that he agreed but referred to other lidos in the area which did not have any such restrictions.  A decision on the rooftop restaurant is now expected on 23 August.