The Planning Authority has dismissed an application by the owner of a Buġibba eatery for the installation of a floating pontoon to facilitate boaters' access.
All three members of the PA's Planning Commission voted against the proposal by Beefbar by the Beach, fearing a precedent and citing concerns related to public access to the foreshore.
The application filed by Jean Paul Testa and architect Edwin Mintoff proposed the installation of three single-point moorings and a floating pontoon on the coastline, a stone’s throw away from an existing pontoon at Dawret il-Gżejjer.
The moorings and the pontoon were planned to be demountable and intended to be installed annually between May 1 and October 31, with the applicants saying that they would serve as a seasonal landing point for visitors who anchor their vessels in the area and wish to visit the catering facilities and lidos nearby.
Heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa had objected to the application from the outset, saying that this environmentally sensitive site must not be compromised further.
The site lies within a special area of conservation and is a Natura 2000 site.
The Environment Resources Authority said the area is home to sandbanks, Posidonia beds, submerged or partially submerged sea caves and is home to the endemic sea snail Maltese Top-shell (Gibbula nivosa), which is considered endangered.
The authority initially deemed the proposal to be unacceptable but later withdrew its objection and gave its blessing, asking only that the installation of the anchoring points and mooring points avoid the protected and sensitive habitats in the area.
The PA’s case officer, while noting that the area where the development is proposed is not a formal swimming zone, recommended the application for refusal, saying that it ran counter to the Northwest local plan, which did not allow development that might compromise public access to the foreshore.
Discussions during the hearing centred around whether the site had officially been designated a swimming zone. In a previous sitting, the PA asked the applicants to provide documentation by Transport Malta about the matter, with documents showing that it is not presently designated as a swimming zone - areas which are delineated by Transport Malta on a yearly basis, restricting the movement of seacraft.
Speaking on behalf of Din l-Art Ħelwa, lawyer Claire Bonello that while this was not a designated swimming zone by Transport Malta, the area was nonetheless listed as a bathing zone under the bathing waters directive. As such, she continued, the site must be protected from conflicting uses as specified under SPED.
“It is clear that pontoons will create a conflicting use, you cannot swim when there are jet skis speeding over your head,” she said.
St Paul’s Bay Mayor Alfred Grima supported Bonello’s argument and said that official recognition or otherwise, the area had been in use by bathers for recreational swimming for many years.
Commission chair Martin Camilleri said that he was primarily concerned that approval of the application would set a precedent that would lead to more intense development of the foreshore. Granting a permit that allowed the pontoon to be mounted every year could prejudice local plans, he added.
All three members of the commission voted unanimously to refuse the permit.