Ħondoq: developers want gate and rubble walls around 28,000sq.m site

Scicluna Enterprises, a leading real estate firm in Gozo, has applied to reconstruct and restore rubble walls and erect a gate around a massive agricultural plot the size of seven football pitches at Ħondoq ir-Rummien.

Nearly two years ago, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) had approved a 22 sq.m tool shed under the pretext of rebuilding a room constructed before 1978, of which only a pile of rubble was left.

The Planning Authority had originally rejected this application, presented by the same company, deeming it in breach of generic policies protecting “the character, scenic and ecological value of rural areas”.

Both the Qala local council and the Environment and Resources Authority had opposed the application.

The decision was later confirmed by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT) on appeal in 2022, but revoked in the subsequent appeal by the law courts and sent back to the EPRT for reconsideration.

In its final decision the EPRT conceded that the reconstruction of the room was permittable by the rural policy, which allows the reconstruction of structures built before 1978 including ruins of collapsed developments.

The tribunal also noted that the room was being built in a way which respected the surrounding rural environment.

In their latest application Scicluna Enterprises are proposing the “restoration and reconstruction of rubble walls as visible in pre-1978 aerial photo” and the “construction of a gate.”

The plans suggest that the rubble wall, which will have a variable height, will surround the entire estate.

The area owned by Scicluna Enterprises is located to the south-west of the desalination plant in an area called Ġebel Barbaġġani.

The area is not part of the same site once earmarked for the tourism development in the 2006 local plans, which has now been amended to ensure its protection. This means that only developments envisaged by the rural policy can be approved in this area. These include the redevelopment of existing structures or ruins of old structures which can only be turned into residences if proof of past residential use is provided.

In this case there are no other built-up structures except for the reconstructed tool shed.

The same policy also allows agritourism projects with ten guestrooms but this is only applicable to large holdings of over 66,000sq.m of contiguous land.