A decision on controversial plans to turn a dilapidated room in the Gozitan countryside into a sprawling villa should factor in the environmental watchdog’s concerns, the Nationalist Party said yesterday. 

The application in question seeks to turn a dilapidated room in an Outside Development Zone known as Ta’ Muxi in Qala into a large villa taking up several times the footprint and with unobstructed sea and country views. 

The Sunday Times of Malta revealed that the area – nearly 5,000 square metres of farmland and garigue – was bought by construction magnate Joseph Portelli’s company last January from a large Qala family at a staggering price of €500,000 – far above the current market price for ODZ land.

He hopes to turn the small room into a 200-square-metre villa with pool and a sprawling garden.

The plans had been recommended for refusal by the planning directorate and faced objections from Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Nature Trust, Din l-Art Ħelwa, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage and the Environment and Resources Authority. 

But at a hearing last month, the three-person Planning Commission board said it was “very concerned” that the plans had been recommended for refusal and accused the directorate of having failed to “analyse well the submissions”.

It would be totally unacceptable for the Planning Commission to ignore the ERA’s comments

It was only after Times of Malta raised doubts about the developer’s claims that the rural building had once been home to an elderly woman that the decision was put off until October.

Asked for a reaction, the PN said that the ERA could not be ignored. 

“On this particular case the ERA has spoken out clearly – this means that the environment is very much at stake and it would be totally unacceptable for the Planning Commission to ignore ERA’s comments,” a PN spokesman said.  

Meanwhile, the Qala local council has appointed experts to help in its fight against the application. 

Qala mayor Paul Buttigieg said yesterday that lawyer and conservationist Claire Bonello and architect and Alternattiva Demokratika leader Carmel Cacopardo had been appointed to represent the council when the application is set to be decided in October.