ERA says no to Zurrieq’s Eden wedding hall owner to turn ODZ land into holiday village

A holiday village in Zurrieq is being planned over the site of the Garden of Eden wedding halls, whose extensive car park has been under planning enforcement for the past 20 years.

The application by owner Maurizio Baldacchino is for a holiday village spread over 2.3 hectares of outside development zones in Zurrieq.

Already 1,661 square metres of the 23,342 sq.m site is built up. But development

Is concentrated on the area around the ‘Eden Lodge’ and ‘Cottage Garden’ wedding halls.

The plans submitted by architect Ray Demicoli proposed the demolition of the existing buildings and the development of 14 new units, a reception area, a tennis court and a parking area over a wider area.

While 1,524 sq.m of land will be built up, the development will be scattered over a wider area including undeveloped land in the north-western part of the site and an extensive 5,073 sq.m car park of dubious legality.

The residential units will consist of two bedroom cabanas all equipped with a pool and screened by trees and a green roof.

The Environment and Resources Authority has already objected to the development, noting that the application is proposing the additional commitment of undeveloped land at the north-western parts of the site to accommodate a more scattered development.

According to the ERA it is unclear whether all existing interventions are located in areas covered by a valid permit or otherwise.

ERA has expressed concern that the development is also being proposed on an extensive area currently used as a makeshift car park. “The disturbed state of the site is not considered as a valid commitment justifying further development.”

The site is already subject to an enforcement order dating back to 1998 against the levelling of the site to construct the car park. The ERA said the ‘disturbed’ area should be restored to its pristine state in line with a method statement approved by the same authority.

The developers are invoking the infamous rural policy guidelines issued in 2014 which permit the redevelopment of existing buildings located outside development zones. But the policy itself states that redevelopment must not “involve substantial lateral or vertical extensions and/or substantial re-building.”

The site is partly located in the vicinity of a Natura 2000 site.