Wall blocking Nadur belvedere view rejected by Planning Authority

The Planning Authority board has unanimously turned down an application  to construct  a 1.4 metre boundary wall which would have blocked views from the belvedere in Cocco Palmieri Street.

A similar application on an adjacent site was rejected last January.

But while in January the Planning Directorate had recommended the approval of the application which was ultimately turned down, in this case the Planning Directorate also was against approval. An appeal has been presented against this decision.

The belvedere in Cocco Palmieri street has been the subject of bitter controversy after the owners of a field below the paved public space won a court case that gave them the right to erect a boundary wall to protect their privacy.

The council was opposed to the development because the wall would deprive the public of the view from the highest part of Nadur ridge, screening off scenic views, including of the Gozo channel, which can currently be viewed from the belvedere.

Environment and Resources Authority chairman Victor Axiak,said he could not understand the logic of wanting to build a boundary wall to protect privacy when the fields below the belvedere were designated as a green area.

“Nothing can be built there, so I see no point in building the boundary wall.”