PA set to approve boulders to protect Veċċja cave

The Planning Authority is set to approve the construction of a rock revetment along the existing friable cliff-face at the Għar Tal-Veċċja in St Paul’s Bay.

The revetment is needed to protect the area from further coastal erosion and prevent the possible collapse of Triq Stella Maris.

But two set of staircases which provided access to swimming platforms, included in the previous plans, have been removed from the latest designs.

According to the Public Works Department architect, the proposed stairs have been removed in view of the safety hazard to users, citing the Wave Overtopping Manual, widely used in the design of coastal engineering structures.

Works will also include the resurfacing of the existing paved area along the coast, a small carpark at the end of Trejqet il-Veċċja, and the demolition of an abandoned cesspit along the coast in Triq Stella Maris.

The works were granted the go-ahead of the Environment and Resources Authority, which had originally objected to the original plans which would have obliterated the Veċċja cave, which is scheduled as an Area of Ecological Importance and an Area of High Landscape Value.

Subsequently, plans were changed to ensure that the boulder scree will not cover the cave, while still protecting the foreshore from further erosion by aiding the waves to break before reaching land. A case officer is now also recommending the works and a final decision by the PA’s Planning Commission is due on 3 September.

The case officer concluded that that the project will not have a negative visual impact, and that it raises “no particular heritage and environmental concerns.”

A project statement presented in 2023 warned that wave action from north-eastern storms was damaging the existing infrastructure along this stretch of coastline. “The combination of friable rock formation and wave action are posing a significant threat on buildings built near the coast, which now find themselves on the edge of the cliff face and in danger of toppling over due to the scour at the toe of the cliff.”

According to the same document the cave is composed of very friable upper-coralline limestone.

The attenuation of wave action by erecting the boulders would decrease the rate of erosion on the cave during severe storms, increasing the safety of third-party properties and the road sitting directly over the cave, “which are at risk of collapsing if the cave erodes further into the sea.”

Public safety concerns increased in 2016 when a nine-year-old girl was badly injured after being hit by falling rocks.

The plans also come in the wake of an onslaught of construction activity in the area, which included a permit issued in 2019 for the development of 24 dwelling units and two offices with underlying garages, constructed on seven levels above the street level and three levels below.

An application for a nine-storey hotel on an existing terrace overlooking the bay was withdrawn last year after the Environment and Resources Authority had expressed concern on the proposed excavation works near the coastal cliffs and cave.