ERA objects to hotelier’s bid to relocate Xaghra farmhouse to pristine site in ODZ area

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) is opposing the relocation of an old farmhouse to a pristine site in an outside development zone.

Hotelier Alfred Refalo wants to shift the farmhouse outside the Xagħra site where he is currently constructing a 58-room hotel. Nonetheless, ERA has deemed this request to be unacceptable.

Refalo had initially applied to demolish the farmhouse to make way for the hotel, which was approved in 2019. However, during the application process, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage strongly objected to the demolition, insisting that the building should be integrated into the proposed project.

The Planning Commission subsequently instructed the developer to dismantle and reconstruct parts of the existing farmhouse within the same site, in a different position, as outlined in a restoration method statement presented in 2018.

Now, Refalo is proposing to relocate the farmhouse entirely to another site outside the boundary of the rural hamlet in an ODZ area. Although the proposed site is close to the area where the hotel is being built, it falls within the boundaries of the Żebbuġ council.

In a strong objection to the application, the ERA reminded the Planning Authority that it had previously objected to the hotel development, which extends over undeveloped land in the rural hamlet.

ERA noted that Refalo is now proposing to reconstruct the farmhouse in a completely new location, with a larger built footprint, within an undeveloped ODZ area beyond the rural ha let. “There is no valid justification for relocating the farmhouse from its current location within a rural hamlet and adjacent to a main road to a completely different site that is more environmentally sensitive in open countryside,” the ERA stated.

It added that the construction of a farmhouse on this site would result in the introduction of urban uses in the area, visual impacts on the surrounding open landscape, the loss of the rural characteristics of the area, and land take-up.

The ERA also expressed concern that approval could trigger requests for further extensions including pool areas.

Although the hotel, which is currently under construction, will be partly located within a designated rural hamlet, its footprint extends into the neighbouring countryside, overlooking the valley between Marsalforn and Xagħra. Moreover, hotels are not listed among the types of development allowed in rural hamlets under the Gozo Local Plan.

Now, five years after the original approval, Refalo is proposing to relocate the farmhouse to an ODZ site approximately 80 metres from its original location, raising concerns about urban sprawl on natural land.