The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal has repealed a permit for a restaurant in land outside the development zone near Iklin that was granted in September 2019.
The development had been strongly opposed by the Environment and Resources Authority, which had noted that commercial development of this nature could easily be accommodated within the development zone.
It had stated that the proposal did not justify the further take-up of ODZ land. The case officer also recommended the case for refusal.
But the Planning Commission had approved the permit after project architect Robert Musumeci presented a list of 19 permits in the area in a bid to show that it had already been committed to development.
Din l-Art Ħelwa appealed the permit arguing that the vast majority of projects presented by the architect were either industrial developments within the nearby area of containment or uses that were completely unrelated to catering.
Two of the 19 permits were, in fact, never even decided upon, let alone approved.
Not a single one of the permits presented concerned the development of a new building to be used exclusively as a catering establishment, Din l-Art Ħelwa argued.
It added that the complete sealing of the site classified as agricultural land would have serious environmental ramifications and was completely unwarranted.
The Planning Commission's outright disregard for policies clearly calling for the protection of soil and prevention of further sealing of ODZ land was completely unacceptable and this for a development that was purely commercial and intended to only serve private interests, Din l-Art Ħelwa argued.
The tribunal confirmed that the decision to approve the development based on was completely unfounded and ordered the cancellation of the permit.
A spokesperson for Din l-Art Ħelwa asserted that “the unjustified take-up of ODZ land cannot continue unabated. We have lost too much to keep treating this precious resource so detrimentally. It is our collective responsibility, and above all the Planning Authority’s, to ensure that ODZ land is not exploited further."