The Planning Authority has missed clear evidence that illegal construction took place in the countryside in Qala which lies outside the development zone behind a huge apartment project.

No permit was granted for an enlarged room and a circular outline structure constructed last year in the ODZ fields intended to form the grounds of a sprawling block of flats under development that is spearheaded by property supremo Joseph Portelli.

The developers last month told Times of Malta that they are planning a “paddock, pool, windmill, gazebo, fishpond, lawned barbecue and picnic areas, and kids playing area” in the area.

In reply to questions on the construction that has occurred despite the absence of a permit, the PA said its enforcement officers had carried out a site inspection.

The spokesman said the room “is visible in 1968 survey sheets and only maintenance work was noted to have been carried out”.

Measurements taken on the 1968 maps show the room had a footprint of around four square metres while aerial photography of recent years shows that it had been reduced to a roofless vestige with partial, crumbling walls and with trees growing through it. The ruin is not even visible among the almond trees in Google Earth satellite imagery of 2017.

Yet, aerial photography last month shows the room has been reconstructed and its footprint enlarged by four or five times. 

Cement poured into the rubble wall

Such enlargement requires a development permit under provisions of the Rural Policy and Design Guidance, which specifies the extent of enlargement of existent agricultural stores in proportion to the area of farmland.

In this case, it is not clear if an enlargement would be permissible under the criteria that make up the policy. Further construction consists of a low, round wall.

The PA spokesman said “the round structure was found on site during the removal of vegetation and only maintenance works were carried out”. However, the structure is not visible on Google Earth imagery of June 2017, when its size would have made it visible among the dried grass.

Moreover, in a blueprint of the project seen by Times of Malta, a round structure that sits on the same spot shows a faux windmill or gazebo.

This suggests that the existent round, thick wall has been built to serve as the foundation of either of these structures.

A lane or narrow road that is shaped in an elongated, curvaceous loop – coloured white on the blueprint – has also been taking form, visible as a dirt road in last month’s aerial photography.

In January, in response to questions on whether a development permit is needed for facilities in the grounds outback, a spokesperson for J Portelli Projects said: “We believe that all the facilities and amenities in question are permissible on the site. Permits will be applied for in due course.”

These facilities are designed as the recreation grounds – spread over thousands of square metres beyond development lines – of the blocks of flats that are shaping into one of the largest residential developments Gozo has ever seen.

Elsewhere on the grounds, excavations have taken place on part of the ground on which an application for 64 flats has recently been suspended by the applicant, and a dirt road has been cut through to the fields. No permits have been granted for these interventions.

The only permit that has been granted so far for the grounds of the project that lie in ODZ land is for “restoration of rubble walls around site.”

In the “restoration”, the layout of some of the fields has been reconfigured and the new rubble walls build in straight, regimental lines.

A usually-reliable source has claimed that cement was poured into the rubble wall during the reconstruction, which is against the rules.

The source has provided details of the cement supplier, whose identity is being withheld.

The developer denied that cement was put into the walls while the PA’s spokesperson said the inspectors had “confirmed that no concrete material was used in the restoration works pertaining to the rubble walls”.

Times of Malta has been unable to independently verify any of these claims pertaining to the rubble walls.