The Planning Authority has shot down an application seeking to turn a plot of land outside of the development zone in Marsascala into a horse stable.
The applicant, Hussein Suleyman, had also included plans to build a water reservoir, a cesspit and to rebuild parts of the existing boundary walls on the site.
The plot of land on the hill in Triq il-Blajjiet is in an area characterised mostly by agricultural land.
The planning directorate’s case officer, who recommended the project for refusal, said that the application should not be approved partially because a footpath on the land had already been widened without authorisation to accommodate vehicular access to the site.
“This is not considered appropriate and adequate within the rural characteristics and has resulted in further unauthorised formalisation of the rural land,” the case officer said.
Furthermore, the report highlights that planning policies limit the take-up of land for uses that are not deemed “necessary or legitimate” in rural areas and the plans run counter to planning objectives meant to facilitate sustainable rural development.
In a Planning Commission hearing last week, board members Martin Camilleri, Anthony Borg and Frank Ivan Caruana Catania unanimously voted to refuse the application which had previously raised the alarm among neighbours and activists.
The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had noted that while it was in favour of rehabilitating rubble walls in principle, the application was proposing an “insensitive” use of the land.
It also flagged the presence of a number of structures present on site that do not appear to be covered by a planning permit.
Residents who filed objections to the application also claimed that a structure on the site was being used as a residence. In the absence of attempts to sanction these dwellings, the application should then be outright refused, they argued.
The Marsascala local council and Din l-Art Ħelwa also objected, citing concerns about the visual impact of the structures in the area.
Such applications lead to the further take-up and formalisation of ODZ land that is neither necessary nor justified when it threatens the integrity of the rural environment, the NGO had said.