Tribunal overturns PA refusal for development above Birżebbuġa bat cave

The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal has overturned a Planning Authority decision to refuse a permit to develop a property above a protected cave in Birżebbuġa known for being a home to a large bat colony.  

The application, first filed by Ruben Magro in 2020 and resubmitted in 2022, calls for the demolition of an existing terraced house and the construction of a maisonette and garages at ground-floor level, six overlying units and a recessed penthouse. 

While in the development zone, the land on the corner of Triq Herakles and Triq De Redin lies above an extensive cave complex known as Għar il-Friefet (Cave of Bats), which comprises a number of chambers linked by tunnels and is home to a large colony of bats and rare species of invertebrates. 

In its ruling in 2023, the Planning Board turned down the application, after the case officer’s report recommended refusal due to the proposed development’s significant impact on the buffer zone of an Area of Archaeological Importance that also includes Għar Dalam. 

The applicant, represented by architect Elena Borg Costanzi, then appealed, stating that no basements were being proposed and no further excavation was required, insisting that the development and the cave complex only overlapped on “one small corner of the site”. 

The applicant added that he had commissioned a 3D survey of the cave, while also noting that a proposed development in the same area that included three basement levels had been approved. 

The PA rebutted by observing that during the application process, it had not received adequate evidence backed by studies to show that the cave would not be negatively impacted. A ground investigation report was later submitted during the appeal stage, after the authority's decision.

With regard to the other nearby development, the PA insisted that the two proposals were not comparable, and that unlike the application in question, it had received adequate assurances that the development would not impact the cave. 

On Thursday, the EPRT ruled that, after taking into consideration all the facts, it was sending the development back to the initial stage of the application process, requiring a case officer to examine the ground investigation report and other relevant studies submitted by the applicant. 

The cave has been threatened by development since the late 1980s and is now in the middle of a residential area.   

In 2009, the Planning Authority had intervened by amending the local plan to introduce a buffer zone around it where excavation is not allowed.