Agatha Barbara’s former villa flagged for illegalities

The excavation of a clay slope to build a retaining wall around a secluded villa in Gozo, set on Ghammar Hill opposite Ta’ Pinu church, “had a destabilising effect on the clay of the area” a Malta Environment and Planning Authority case officer report warned.

Villa Barbara, once the abode of the late President Agatha Barbara, was surrounded by a boundary wall which the villa’s present owners want regularised to “resist the lateral pressure from the clay slope” on the villa.

The works were carried out in 2008, six years after Agatha Barbara passed away.

But while the owners claim that they want to reinstate the area with soil as it was in the past, the case officer report describes the works carried out in 2008 as “an expansion of the villa’s back garden”. 

On Tuesday MEPA"s Environment Planning Comission turned down the application to sanction the works.  The decision was based on a case officer report which  claims that the removal of clay had a major impact on the site’s geological features.

Moreover the report also casts doubts on the legality of the villa itself.

The report refers to the issue of permits issued for a farmhouse and a dwelling in the early 1980s. But according to the case officer, aerial photos show that the present villa was built in 1988 and “no permit can be traced” for this development. 

“Should no permits be traced, the villa would be allegedly illegal and the site would have to be reinstated to its original state,” the case officer report says. The report calls on MEPA to reject the application to regularise the retaining wall and calls for clarifications on the legality of the villa.

MaltaToday has been contacted by relatives of the former President who have no connection with the present owners, who still  have a copy of PB 362/84 and PB 2446/83, thus proving that the original villa was legally constructed.  The permit for the original dwelling  was issued on 22 February 1984.

The case of the more recent illegalities dates back to 2008 when residents from Ghasri contacted MaltaToday to report trucks and tractors levelling the countryside surrounding the villa.

Works were even being conducted on Sunday mornings, to the extent that Ghasri residents were disturbed by noise from the construction site during Mass.

Upon receiving the report, MEPA reacted by issuing an enforcement order against the new development.

Subsequently the owners of the villa tried to legalise the works, claiming the wall was necessary to resist pressure from the clay slope, which is threatening the stability of Villa Barbara.

But a site inspection revealed that the illegal works also comprised the expansion of the villa’s back garden through excavations into the clay slope. 

These works not only resulted in a major overspill of construction material onto surrounding agricultural land, but also destabilised the clay slope.

Subsequently an application was presented aimed at regularising the illegal works and to reinstate the area with soil to its “original levels”.