The Planning Authority took swift action to stop all illegal works carried out in a field metres from the picturesque San Blas Bay, in Gozo.

The action was taken just hours after Times of Malta alerted the planning watchdog to the new structures and the synthetic turf placed on farmland close to the water’s edge.

According to PA plans, the field is the same one that had been slapped with enforcement notices in 2014 when Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli had been ordered to dismantle all structures or face a daily fine of €50.

The illegal structures, consisting of a metal canopy frame and a metal gate, had been dismantled just a day after the PA issued the enforcement order.

Fast forward a few years and a similar canopy has now been erected in the same field, according to PA documents. It could not be ascertained whether Portelli owns the fields and various attempts to contact him proved futile.

Sources told this newspaper that the fresh structures, complete with a wooden fence, reappeared on the site over the last few weeks. However, this time, one of the two fields, connected with a staircase, was also covered in synthetic turf.

The illegal patio with a shaded area, armchairs and a barbecue area, also covered with artificial turf, comes with its own parking area in the field next to the lane that leads down to the beach.

A 2016 aerial shot of San Blas Bay. Photo: Daniel Cilia

Area is of ecological importance

The sources said the fields in question are listed as a Grade 3 area of ecological importance and no development whatsoever can be done on them except for agricultural use.

The same sources added that some fields in the area are owned by Portelli, who is said to have purchased a considerable area of land there. The fields in question, especially the one covered in turf, are within the 15 metres buffer zone which, according to Public Domain Act, should be in the public domain.

Over the last two years, winter storms have washed away the remaining sand on the beach which, however, remains one of the quietest and quaintest beaches on the island of Gozo.

In 2014, the PA had acted after reports of the illegal structures emerged in the media. On that occasion, The Malta Independent on Sunday had reported that Portelli was in the process of buying several hectares of land and had erected a metal structure and a gate without obtaining a permit.

At the time, Portelli had told Times of Malta that they were originally erected for his personal use.

Property supremo Portelli stirred controversy recently over a notorious development in Qala where he proposed to turn a disused room in the countryside into a massive villa. The application prompted widespread outrage following its approval by the PA last November.

That same month, he also managed to obtain a permit to demolish a vernacular building with a large garden in Sannat centre and turn it into a block of 16 apartments and 15 garages.