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Ta’ Cenc owners apply for gate at Kantra beach
Owners insist on right to set gate on private land as Planning Directorate invokes structure plan against proposed gate
30 October 2013, 12:00am
James Debono
James Debono
2 min read
On Friday the Environment Planning Commission deferred a decision on a proposed gate allegedly blocking access to the Kantra beach at Ta' Cenc, calling for further legal advice before taking a decision on this matter. The decision has been postponed to 11 November.
In February Ta' Cenc hotel owner Victor Borg applied to place a timber gate and the replacement of two existing pillars, thus closing access to a path linking the Ta' Cenc Hotel to the Kantra Beach where the hotel's lido is located.
But while calling for the refusal of the application, the Planning Directorate invoked the Structure Plan's policy, securing public access to the coastline to block this application.
The major stumbling block to the application is Structure Plan Policy CZM 3 which clearly states that public access around the coastline immediately adjacent to the sea or on top of cliffs has to be secured. The same policy states that all the coastline should be brought into public ownership within a specified period.
The developer, through his lawyer, argued that this policy did not apply to this development "since the land in question is in private ownership and there is no right of passage to the public over such land".
Significantly, the Authority's legal office disagreed with this view, insisting that this policy also applies to private land.
But the Planning Directorate recognised that there could be alternative routes to the beach and called on the developer to clearly indicate these routes. But no such plans were provided.
The local plan also specifies that this pedestrian path should not be hindered.
Environmental NGO Din l-Art Helwa has objected to this application, insisting that "there is a long standing commitment to allow open public access to Ta'Cenc, including the Ta' Kantra Area".
The picturesque Kantra is a small peninsula jutting out on one side of Mġarr ix-Xini, with Fessej Rock and the Comino Channel as a backdrop. The site is known to attract several scuba diving clubs.
James Debono is MaltaToday's chief reporter on environment, planning and land use issues, ...
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Public access to beaches are the sole privilege of the General Public and no one, not even MEPA, has the right to block access. Why should people dare even ask to infringe on such basic human rights of the Maltese People.
