No electricity to Gnejna boathouses, case officer report says

Providing the irregularly developed boathouses in Gnejna is a breach of the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Planning, a case officer report says

The case officer flagged five pending enforcement notices against numerous boathouses and beach rooms
The case officer flagged five pending enforcement notices against numerous boathouses and beach rooms

The provision of electricity to the irregularly developed boathouses at Gnejna is not justified and is in breach of the SPED (Strategic Plan for the Environment and Planning), according to a case officer report.

The Planning Authority will take a decision on the proposed digging of a 200-metre trench from an existing car park to the boathouses on November 18. Enemalta is proposing the development and it will be the Environment and Planning Commission which will take the final decision.

The case officer flagged five pending enforcement notices against “numerous boathouses and beach rooms” in the area issued between 1997 and 2006. Moreover, two applications to regularise the development presented in 2004 were both rejected by the Authority. Therefore according to the case officer the development in the area cannot be considered to be “legitimate” as it is thus in breach of the SPED which requires development in rural areas to be “legitimate and necessary.”

The development is also being opposed by the Environment and Resources Authority, which insisted that the provision of electricity to “illegal development” in a Natura 2000 site is of “significant environmental concern.”