Watchdog wants Joseph Portelli’s irregular Nadur ‘store’ removed

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage wants the Planning Authority to “remove” a store on the Gozo field where construction magnate Joe Portelli’s daughter also added an irregular 22sq.m concrete platform.

What was supposed to be an agricultural store in a Nadur field is now a room with a sloping roof and a platform, built outside the development zones.

Chloe Portelli, daughter of the Mercury House developer and Hamrun Spartans president, had originally sought a permit for a 20sq.m agricultural store. But the room was eventually built differently from that permitted by the PA last February.

Now the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has expressed its concern that the structure – built not recycled stone as requested, but in concrete blocks – has been given “extremely wide apertures, a sloping roof and a concrete platform”.

Noting that the room has “negatively affected the perception of the cultural landscape”, the SCH is not just objecting to its regularisation, but wants the unauthorized development removed.

The Environment and Resources Authority is also objecting to the requested sanctioning, saying the design of the structure and the platform have created adverse visual impact on the surroundings.

The store is located on Portelli’s 23,000sq.m plot in the vicinity of the Kennuna tower in Nadur, from which one can enjoy idyllic views of Malta and Comino.

The PA had also regularised the construction of a long stretch of highly, visible rubble walls on the same site, after imposing a €1,200 fine.

The walls and the new store are located on an open terraced land known as il-Ġebel l-Aħmar on the southern countryside of Nadur, facing the village of Għajnsielem, and is highly visible from various surrounding areas.

The Gozo and Comino local plan shows the area designated as an Area of High Landscape Sensitivity.

Portelli also wants regularised the deposit of soil on a 1,485sq.m parcel of land.

The case officer’s report had originally justified the new store because it would be serving a stretch of registered arable land in Nadur of over 18 tumolo. Chloe Portelli had submitted proof that she works this parcel of land in the form of photographic evidence, showing the site being cultivated, together with agricultural receipts.

Originally Portelli had applied for a 40sq.m store, but this was reduced in size to ensure it fulfils the criteria set in the PA’s rural policy. As approved the store was to be constructed in recycled stone and fitted with timber-painted green apertures.

Prophetically, in its objection to the store, the ERA had warned that further applications would follow to extend and amend the development “to create a structure which is better suited for residential purposes”.