Planning Authority snubs ERA, approves store in Zurrieq valley

The Planning Authority has approved an 80 square metre “store” with an underlying basement on the steep side of the Wied Babu valley in Zurrieq, overlooking the coastal cliffs in the vicinity of a Natura 2000 site. 

The large store will be replacing three smaller and scattered rooms, which will be demolished.

Although the development was approved on condition that the new structure is used as an agricultural store, the Environment and Resources Authority had signalled that the proposed layout of three interconnected rooms and a spiral staircase leading to a basement is more akin to a residential unit.  

“The application is only seeking to commit a substantial footprint for development under the pretext of agriculture, which is unacceptable from an environmental point of view,” an ERA memo on the application reads.

Moreover the applicant himself had at an earlier stage indicated that the aim of the application was to convert the existing structures into a “residence”. But plans were later changed, removing the reference to residential use and referring to the new building as a store.

The ERA also considered the development excessive in view of the fact that the farmer only tills 1.2 tumoli of land and has only been registered as a farmer for a “couple of months before the submission of the application.”

The same opinion was expressed by the Agricultural Advisory Committee, which noted that the applicant has provided no proof of arable farming on the land in question. The committee also noted that no proof had been submitted that the original buildings had been constructed for agricultural purposes. But the case officer dismissed the AAC’s opinion because it referred to the use of the new buildings as a residence and not as a store.

The latest plans design the three rooms as a “machinery room”, an “agricultural room” and a “utility room”. The basement is designated as a “tools room” and an “underground reservoir”.

The development was approved on the basis of the rural policy approved in 2014, which allows the reconstruction of any structure built before 1978

The development was approved on the basis of the rural policy approved in 2014, which allows the reconstruction of any structure built before 1978, irrespective of whether it had a permit or not as long as the replacing structure occupies the same footprint as the original one. 

The policy also allows the development of a basement underneath the replacement building. It was on the basis of this policy that the Planning Directorate recommended the approval of the new development.

Aerial photos show that two structures, one of 14 square metres and another of 55 square metres existed before 1967. Another 11 square metre structure was built between 1967 and 1978. A rubble wall enclosing the site, which rises up to 2.5 metres in height, was also regularised. The Agricultural Advisory Committee had noted that the sanctioning of the rubble walls will “result in land parcels of less than one tumolo”.

The Environment Planning Commission chaired by architect Elizabeth Ellul approved the application on condition that two Gharghar, two Judas and two Holm Oak trees screen the development. Godwin Abdilla, who was assisted by architect Stanley Cortis, proposed the development.