Planning permission for the construction of an apartment block near the site of the Ggantija Temples in Xaghra, Gozo, has been revoked and referred for reassessment.
The decision was made during a Planning Board meeting held on Thursday to re-discuss the project, which had been approved in November, after the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had filed a request with the Planning Authority for the suspension or revocation of the planning permit.
"On the 21st November 2023, a request to invoke Article 80 of the Development Planning Act 2016 was received by the Planning Authority from the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage (SCH). The SCH notes that the Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) requested by itself on the 8th February 2023 was not submitted to its satisfaction," an updated case officer's report issued prior to the Board's most recent decision reads. "SCH argued that since the proposed development falls with the Ggantja World Heritage Site buffer, it necessitates the submission of an HIA. According to SCH the applicants' architect assertion during the Planning Board's hearing on the 9th November 2023, that the site lies outside the Gganitja Buffer Zone and that SCH never requesting an HIA is not correct. Therefore, SCH is calling the Authority to 'temporarily suspend and if necessary, modify or even revoke the afore said permission by virtue of the Development Planning Act Article 80 (1)(b)'."
The report also noted that a second request to invoke Article 80 of the Development Planning Act 201 was received on the 23rd January 2024 from the Coalition for Gozo. The Development Management Directorate reviewed the information and together with the Legal Counsel had said that they are of the opinion that the Planning Authority should invoke Article 80 (1) (b) and revoke PA 570/21, "on the basis of the fact that there is the submission of incorrect information which does not reflect the situation on site," the updated case officer's report read.
The Board has followed this recommendation.
The Planning Authority, in a statement, said the Board noted that when it had discussed and decided on this application it had been given 'incorrect information' on whether the proposed development fell in or outside the proposed UNESCO buffer zone of the Ġgantija temples. "The Board had relied on the premise that the proposed development was within an Area of Archaeological importance and that the necessary surveys had been carried out and confirmed that there are no archaeological remains on the site in question."
"The Board also noted that when it decided on the application it rested on the reassurance it received from the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage (SCH) that it found no objection to the revised and downsized residential project. Heritage Malta, who were also consulted on this application had considered the latest drawings to be compatible with the management plan of Ġgantija and that the development will not negatively impact the site's Outstanding Universal Value. At today's hearing the SCH requested that prior to the issuing of development permission for this residential project, a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) should be carried out. The Board, therefore agreed to revoke the permit and reprocess the application at the stage where the applicant needs to carry out an HIA as requested by UNESCO." The project, whose permit has now been revoked, included the construction of 20 garages at basement level and 22 overlying apartments within a building envelope of 2 floors and an additional receded floor all around. No excavation works were permitted on site, the PA said.
The application's original approval had caused uproar and, aside from the aforementioned requests for the revocation of the permit made with the Planning Authority, four appeals had also been filed with the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.
PN statement
The Nationalist Party welcomed the decision to revoke the permit and send it back for reassessment. "The Planning Authority made a whole disaster when it approved the permit," the PN said criticising the original approval, saying that it had the duty to ask for and analyse a report regarding the risks of the impact of the development on this World Heritage Site and its surroundings.
"The PA, Heritage Malta and the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage reacted only after the reaction of the PN and various NGOs that made their voices heard against this scandalous development in the zone of the Ġgantija Megalithic Temples, which are protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site."
The PN emphasised that the government must do what the law obliges it to do and ensure that authorities are informed about strategic government directions and monitor the execution of such policies.
The PN quoted from the Public Inquiry into Jean Paul Sofia's death, saying that the PA "must update its methods, policies and processes so that development in the construction sector makes sense. When development is allowed to run itself, with big projects being authorised in geographically limited localities, the risk that everything goes, including the health and safety of workers and third parties, increases." The PN said that the same risk exists for cultural heritage.
The PN said more serious leadership of integrity is needed for the interests of the Maltese and Gozitans to be placed before the interests of others.