Gudja council objects to development on agricultural land

Gudja council has approved a motion expressing concern about a tourist development proposed by the owner of an irregular restaurant at Dawret il-Gudja, an agricultural area in the vicinity of the Bir Miftuh chapel (above).  

The motion proposed by PN councillor Mark Anthony Sammut was approved with the abstention of Gudja’s Labour mayor, John Mary Calleja, and deputy mayor Romeo Baldacchino. Both cited a conflict of interest due to family connections with those involved in the project. 

PL councillor Demelsa Grech and PN councillor Stefan Caruana supported Sammut’s motion.

“This zone serves as an open space opposite the buildings in the vicinity.  Development in this area could reduce this space considerably, thus resulting in environmental degradation,” according to the motion.

The council also expressed its concern that this development could increase parking problems in the locality.

Anton Scicluna, owner of the restaurant which, according to him, caters only for private functions, is seeking the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s green light to designate guidelines for a ‘tourism development’ he wants built in the surrounding fields which he has at Dawret il-Gudja. 

Scicluna’s plans envision a mixed-use commercial building, which includes “touristic oriented activities” over two floors, and a semi-basement on part of the site. 40% of the site will be kept undeveloped.   

The application refers to the development of a Class 3A development (guesthouses) and 3C development (leisure activities such as gyms and theatres). The development would also include a picnic area and a parking area.

In 2012, MEPA had issued an enforcement notice against the illegal use of a farmhouse as a restaurant. The owners deny that that the farmhouse is being used as a restaurant, insisting that they use it only for private functions. 

MaltaToday is informed that some of the tenant farmers are objecting to the project, which would be located on church land transferred to the state under the church state agreement.  

The land itself, in the vicinity of the Bir Miftuh chapel, was included in the extension of the development boundaries of 2006, introduced by the Nationalist administration. But the area is still designated as a strategic open gap where development is restricted in the local plans. MEPA still has to issue parameters for development in the area and the application presented by Scicluna seeks to zone this area for tourist development.