PA regularises dwelling in Natura 2000 Fawwara site

The Planning Authority has regularized a dwelling, a swimming pool and extensive paving in a Natura 2000 site at il-Fawwara on the basis of a letter issued by the Ministry of Finance in 1988 authorising a development which was never approved through any subsequent planning permit.

The latest case officer report presented last month contends that “the extended building has completely engulfed the original core of the building, being five times larger” and has led to the “loss of a cliff edge” and “direct take up of land in a Natura 2000 site.” 

But the Environment Planning Commission insisted that the legality of the dwelling was established in the 1988 document and is therefore compliant with policies included in the Rural Policy Guidelines issued in 2014, which permit the extension or re-development of legal dwellings. 

The site is located on a series of terraces and overhanging cliff edge at il-Fawwara, forming part of the grounds of an exceptional modernist rural building known as Dar il-Ghar, once belonging to the architect Sir Basel Spence, which has been proposed for scheduling but has yet not been granted protection by the PA.

The PA had issued an enforcement order against the development in the vicinity of Dar il-Ghar in 2007 and refused the application to sanction the alleged illegalities in 2012. But subsequently the case was referred back to the Planning Authority by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal so it could be reassessed according to new policies. However the case officer still recommended its refusal, insisting that the construction of a highly visible 200 square metre building in a Natura 2000 site “ runs counter to the spirit of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED).

The building, originally consisting of a single room of about 45 square metres was a studio and then extended illegally into a residence with a 214 square metre floor space.  

The original modernist structure designed by Sir Basil Spence

The proposal involved the conversion of the room built before 1967 into a two-storey dwelling. The building is set against the cliff edge. According to the case officer report the lower level was described as a basement in plans submitted to the Planning Authority. 

The case officer insisted that the development is not an extension of Dar il-Ghar but an entirely new dwelling built illegally in a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation.

“The development has resulted in direct land take-up within the Natura 2000 site via habitat clearing,” the report said. The nature of the sensitive site had also been changed to accommodate landscaping.

But architect Robert Musumeci submitted proof that in 1988 the Ministry of Finance had authorised Peter Frederick Ross to acquire the already constructed farmhouse and adjoining swimming pool, garage, gazebo and studio and other amenities in Dar il-Ghar, thus giving the residence a “legal status.”  

In this document Ross was instructed to develop the property into one complete residence ready for occupation in two years by amalgamating the “basement” with overlying parts of the dwelling. The architect also submitted documentation showing that no further additions were made after 1990. The swimming pool was also authorised by the Water Services Corporation in 1988 though no planning permit had been issued.