Tribunal asks MEPA to give Gasan villas another chance

The Environment and Planning Tribunal of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority has asked the authority to reconsider a permit for the development of two villas instead of an abandoned poultry farm of dubious legality, outside development zones near Wied Hesri valley in Zebbug, Malta.

This is the second time that the appeals tribunal has overruled MEPA’s decision to turn down applications by Mark Gasan, one of the directors of Gasan Group Limited, to construct residential development in a rural conservation area.  

In October 2013 the tribunal chaired by Chris Falzon had ordered MEPA to issue an outline permit for one 120 sq.m dwelling instead of a larger one that had been refused in December 2011. 

In 2013, the tribunal described the case as “sui generis”, as deserving particular consideration – adding that although policies ban new residential development outside development zones, the development of this villa instead of the existing farmhouse represented “an environmental gain” in the area.

But Gasan pressed on with a new application for two villas occupying a floor space of 650 square metres. The permit was refused but the appeals tribunal appointed by the present administration, now composed of Martin Saliba,Robert Sarsero and Simon Micallef Stafrace has ordered MEPA to reconsider the case.

The reason given by the Tribunal is that the permit should have been assessed on the basis of the rural policy approved by the present administration in 2014 and not on the basis of the outline permit issued of 2013. In view of this the Tribunal asked the Planning Directorate to present a new case officer’s report.

Strangely, the sentence states that MEPA had replied to the appeal “verbally” but no reference to the content of this verbal communication is made.

The permit for the villas was refused by MEPA’s environment planning commission in 2015 because it was found in breach of an outline permit which required the development to be limited to a single residence with a maximum floor area of 120 square metres over one floor without a basement.

In terms of visual impact, although the removal of existing buildings was positively recommended the development as proposed on two floors above a semi-basement level was deemed to have an adverse impact on the scenic value of the area.

The Environment Protection Directorate was also strongly opposed to the development, particularly expressing concern on ancillary development such as the two drive-ins and the two proposed swimming pools and paved areas around them.

Although the area is designated as an area of high landscape value and a rural conservation area, it includes within it a building of dubious legality, which was built in the 1980s. 

MEPA’s own Heritage Advisory Committee had considered the newly proposed development as a case of “urbanisation within the rural landscape” and strongly objected to the proposal.

The two villas are being proposed by entrepreneur Mark Gasan to replace an abandoned pre-1992 farm building.

Aerial photos submitted during the processing of the application showed that the existing pre-1992 farm building had in fact been constructed before 1988 but no PAPB permits – as they were known then – were ever traced for farm developments. A permit for a villa was issued in 1986 but was never executed and the older structures were retained. 

Gasan’s architect argued that the new development constituted an improvement over the existing illegal development and should have been considered as an “opportunity to substitute it with a building which is more in harmony with surroundings”.

Under MEPA’s new rural policy old buildings can be considered legal only if constructed before 1978. Objectors to the development have pointed out that 1978 aerial photos show only a small rural room towards the north east of the site. The policy also permits pre-1992 livestock farms but an objector is claiming that the site was used only as a poultry farm.