A planning application to turn Żurrieq's Garden of Eden complex into 12 bungalows with pools should be refused unless the applicant returns a massive illegal car park on the site back to nature, Moviment Graffitti insisted on Wednesday. 

The proposal is the applicant's second attempt at converting the wedding lodge and nightclub into a complex of luxury residences, following a dropped 2018 bid. 

It is due to be heard by the Planning Board on Thursday and is slated for approval, following a case officer's recommendation to that effect. 

In a statement, Graffitti noted that a 4,900 square metre area at the site that was originally garigue had been illegally developed into a car park by the developer.

The applicant, Maurizio Baldacchino, had filed a separate PA application to return that car park to nature but then suspended that application more than a year ago. It remains frozen to date.

He subsequently filed a separate application, seeking to turn the existing lodge into a bungalow complex. 

The Environment and Resources Authority said in its representations that the car park must be restored to its garigue state for the bungalow application to be considered. 

In its statement, Graffitti said that beyond the concerns stemming from the illegal car park situation, the proposal to build a tourist complex in what is a Natura 2000 site and area of ecological importance like Wied Babu is very concerning. 

Aside from flagging concerns about ecosystems being impacted, the activist group said approving the proposal would create “a very ugly precedent for future similar developments”. 

The current Garden of Eden site is "plagued by illegalities", Graffitti alleged.

“The fact that the authorities are justifying and recommending for approval this new tourist complex on the basis that the site is already developed and that the bungalows proposal presents an improvement over the existing situation is not acceptable in light of the effects that this development will have on Wied Babu.

“The fact that we have flawed policies like the rural policy that allow for the rewarding of illegalities on Natura 2000 sites is of great concern.”

The group also appealed to the government that if there was any truth in the “highly dubious claims by the Baldacchinos” that they own Wied Babu, the government should take the necessary steps to expropriate the pathways that lead to the valley so that the people are allowed to enjoy the valley.

“Wied Babu must be protected and allowed to be enjoyed by all of us,” Graffitti said.