Gozo's cheeslet industry seems to have been aiming for the sky in the past seven years, as the Planning Authority received 71 applications to build new sheep farms or extend existing ones. 

More than 10 applications were submitted each year.

Of the 71 applications, 30 applications were approved, 12 were rejected, 21 remain pending and eight were withdrawn, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi confirmed on Monday.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Chris Said, who asked how many applications were submitted for the construction of new sheep farms, extensions of existing sheep farms or requests for premises to be transformed into sheep farms in the past seven years.

While Gozo boasts of a rich sheep farming tradition, planning applications for the development of new farms have been flagged by activists as ripe for abuse. 

Developers, some fear, might seek to obtain permits to build farms in valleys and the countryside, only to later transform the structures into storerooms, residences or commercial projects.

In one such case, a planning application was submitted last October to add a residence, retail outlet, guest rooms and other commercial spaces to a massive Bidnija "sheep farm" that had raised objections when it was first approved for construction in a previously untouched valley.

Objectors had from the outset argued that the application appeared to look more like a hotel or agri-tourism facility than a sheep farm.