Proposed Armier development in breach of MEPA’s policies – Austin Walker
James Debono The chairman of the planning authority has declared that the redevelopment of the Armier’s illegal boathouses “does not fulfil the aims of the policies set for the locality”, in a letter he sent in January to the director of the Government Property Division.
Austin Walker was replying to a governmental request – part of an electoral pledge to the boathouse lobby by the prime minister – to see whether re-development of the boathouses conformed to planning policies.
Walker’s letter, outlining four reasons why the applications are in breach of the draft Marfa Action Plan, was only released by the Office of the Prime Minister following questions sent by MaltaToday.
In the first ever pronouncement by MEPA, chairman Austin Walker said that three applications presented in 2004 by Armier Developments, the boathouse owners’ company, ran against planning policies.
The Armier ‘shantytown’ has mushroomed since the 1970s and 1980s with illegally erected boathouses on public land.
No legal action was ever taken by successive governments, which view the boathouse lobby as another important source of votes.
Instead Armier Developments applied for planning permission to demolish the existing boathouses, and replace them with 1,600 two-storey beach rooms.
The application followed the agreement signed with the Nationalist government on the eve of the 2003 election, for a 65-year lease of 230 tumuli of public land, against an annual rent of €350,000.
The pledge was renewed again by Lawrence Gonzi just days before the 2008 election, by committing himself to “consult with MEPA” on the pending applications.
But chairman Austin Walker has now claimed that part of the development proposed by Armier Developments is unacceptable because of environmental, agricultural and land ownership issues.
He also said the size of the beach rooms were larger than that indicated in the Marfa Action Plan, and that two-storey rooms could be easily converted into two separate accommodations. “This would mean that 3180 units would be built and this constitutes an unacceptable development mass,” Walker said.
Walker said that with no space for landscaping and open spaces being included in the plans, “the objective to remove the existing structures to create a better environment will be lost.”
But he is still defending the rebuilding of the boathouses, citing the Structure Plan’s policy TOU 5, which favours “tourist accommodation” that replaces illegal development between the Vendome Battery and White Tower on the northern coastline of the Marfa peninsula.
It was this policy that MEPA used as its pretext for a “boathouse village”, as mentioned in the draft Marfa Action Plan.
But this plan, issued for public consultation in 2002, has so far not been approved by the MEPA board and the minister responsible. Despite lacking official approval, Walker still considers it as MEPA’s “point of reference”, which is why Armier Development’s plans are not compatible.
All this could however change if the proposed MEPA reform leads to the creation of a unit in the Office of the Prime Minister that writes the local plans, or more to the point, tweak and change the Marfa Action Plan as necessary.
Walker appears to have ignored the Structure Plan’s policy REC 12, which calls for the demolition of all illegal stone built structures on the Maltese coast. The Structure Plan warned that if these structures “are allowed to remain, evicted shanty users (in other localities) would ask why they are being proceeded against and not the others, and most importantly it would be seen as another case of benefit accruing to those who break the law at the expense of those who do not, and a signal that it is worth attempting further illegal development because of Government’s reluctance to enforce the law.”
The Structure Plan in fact calls on government to evict squatters and demolish the offending structures within one year of notifying them, without fining the squatters or compensating them.
Presented in 2004 the applications submitted by Armier Developments foresaw the development of 575 rooms, a marbles pitch and two playing fields in Ramlet il-Qortin, 319 rooms, a playing field, a minimarket, a restaurant and community centre in Ta’ Macca u l-Armier, 175 beach rooms, a two-storey garage and a playing field in the Barriera tal-Ahrax quarry, 272 rooms, a community centre, a clinic and a restaurant at Little Armier and a further 248 rooms, a community hall, a restaurant and a playing field in the Torri l-abjad zone.
According to the plans presented to MEPA, each beach room was to be 11 metres high consisting of two storeys; 57 square metres were to be allocated as a living area in the lower floor and 42 square metres for a sleeping area on the second floor. Each beach room was to have a 5 square-metre porch; 15%-20% of the whole area was to be covered by greenery.
Although the draft Marfa Action Plan sought to provide “a holistic and comprehensive approach” for this development, the plan foresaw an increase in the land area covered by beach rooms from the existing 67,000 square metres to around 231,000 square metres.
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