Case officer recommends refusal of Kalkara villas

The Planning Directorate is recommending the refusal of the four ODZ Kalkara villas, granted preliminary approval in an outline permit issued a few days before the election.

A final decision by the Planning Commission was due yesterday. But in a clear indication that the development will still be approved, the decision was postponed to 4 April.

The permit in the vacant plot of land was issued despite four prior refusals by the Planning Authority for development on the same 1,400sq.m site, which includes two mature carob trees.

Approved on 18 May the permit foresaw the development of four dwellings and underlying garages in a hamlet in Triq Santu Rokku in Kalkara but specified that the ‘internal layout, design and external appearance’ are “reserved matters” which should be assessed when a full development application is presented.

The case office is now arguing that although the development had been accepted in principle in May, the proposed terraced houses exceed the 200sq.m threshold of floor-space permitted in the local plan in a policy regulating development in the rural hamlet.

Moreover, according to the case officer “the proposed development exceeds the depth of the adjoining properties and will result in the overdevelopment of the site, in conflict with the objectives of Local Plan”.

However, project architect Robert Musumeci who is representing applicant Norbert Bellia, has rejected a request to downscale the floorspace of each dwelling unit to not more than 200sq.m.

In his reply the architect insisted that the building envelope had already been established in the outline permit and even cited two previous cases within the Santu Rokku hamlet where the 200sq.m threshold was not applied.

In yesterday’s meeting the Planning Commission also referred to a previous case   where the 200sq.m threshold was not applied.

The proposal involves the construction of four terraced houses having a floorspace which varies between 233sq.m and 286sq.m (excluding roof structures), therefore going beyond the 200sq.m allowance for each dwelling unit.

The Environment and Resources Authority has also remained steadfast in its objections warning that the final approval of the proposal would constitute a precedent for similar development on existing vacant plots within the Santu Rokku hamlet, and would open the floodgates for other similar developments in similar locations.

According to ERA the development will disrupt the rural setting and adversely affect the ecological importance of site and the surrounding Area of Ecological Importance/Site of Scientific Importance.

“Moreover, the proposed development would result in additional urban sprawl beyond the current extent of the built-up area and would also create a strong impact on the visual amenity of this particular hamlet, which would be highly visible from surroundings areas”.

The pre-electoral permit had been issued by the Planning Commission despite objections by both ERA and the Planning Directorate.