Developer Victor Borg has presented the latest changes to plans in a 20-year saga, reducing the number of villas on Mgarr ix-Xini from the 36 proposed deemed unacceptable by MEPA in 2007 to 15.15 new villas build over 90,000 square meters, overlooking the picturesque and protected Mgarr ix-Xini, and a hotel extension in the vicinity of the existing hotel are being proposed in the latest revision to the Ta' Cenc project.
The latest proposal represents a reduction from the 36 villas proposed in 2007 which were deemed unacceptable by MEPA.
The development of villas in this area was ruled out by the previous government, which interpreted the local plan as meaning that no villas can be constructed at Mgarr ix-Xini.
The extension to Hotel Ta’ Cenc will be designed to provide luxury suites and a presidential suite for up-market clients. The extension will consist of 118 new guest rooms. The new guest rooms include 21 trullo suites and 37 regular suites. The development will also include a new pool and spa.
All the buildings in the current proposals are designed to be low-lying, with the ‘Ta’Ċenċ trullo’ being the dominant architectural feature.
The trullo design was introduced in the Ta’ Ċenċ Area in the late-1960s. The EIA claims that this design, derived from the Italian region of Puglia, has been accepted as an integral part of the Ta’ Ċenċ landscape.
Last year Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti annulled a previous decision – taken by another tribunal on the eve of the 2013 general election – that had effectively upheld the previous government’s decision to exclude more development at Mgarr ix-Xini, in Gozo.
Although MEPA has yet to take a final decision on the 19-year-old planning saga, the application is destined for refusal, as long as the local plan approved in 2006 is interpreted as resolutely excluding development at Mgarr ix-Xini.
In fact, a case officer’s report already recommends a refusal of this application.
But if the interpretation given by the previous government is changed, Ta’ Cenc hotelier Victor Borg could finally get the permit he has coveted for the past two decades.
Borg had originally proposed 57 bungalows in that area, but the number was reduced to 15 in the latest plans, presented in 2009.
The future of this development depends on the interpretation of the local plan – the guide for any planning application.
In what appeared to be the final blow to the developers, on 31 January 2013 MEPA’s Appeals Tribunal rejected their appeal on the basis of the interpretation of an ambiguous local plan policy, which says that MEPA should “limit development in the lower part of the plateau”.
While the government argued that this excluded any more development at Mgarr ix-Xini beyond the existing villas, the developers on their part argued that development should be of a limited nature.
But the phrase was so ambiguous that environmentalists had initially protested the wording, fearing that this policy was intended to allow more development in the area.
The latest court decision to annul the MEPA Appeals Tribunal’s decision was motivated by a procedural error, which consisted of the omission of the names of the two companies owned by Victor Borg in the tribunal’s sentence.
According to the sentence issued by Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti, this procedural error invalidated the tribunal’s decision.
The entire case revolves around a letter sent to Victor Borg by former MEPA chairman Andrew Calleja in 2006, informing the developer that MEPA agreed with environment minister George Pullicino’s interpretation that the phrase “limit development in the lower part of the plateau” in the local plan meant that development had to be limited to what already existing in the Mgarr ix-Xini area.
Borg appealed this decision but the MEPA Appeals Tribunal concluded that the applicant can only appeal once MEPA takes a final decision on his proposed application.
Resource: http://www.maltatoday.com.mt
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