Test case could set precedent for other gates blocking access to coastline, as landowners argue private land gives them every right to block public access
Landowners in Baħrija are now claiming they never needed a permit to install a gate blocking public access to an old footpath that leads to the Blata tal-Melħ coastline in Baħrija
Ramblers Association calls on the Planning Authority to declare whether enforcement will be put off again if owners appeal the PA’s refusal to regularise the gate
Changes to planning laws in 2015 allow owners to delay enforcement by first building illegally, then applying to regularise illegalities, and then further delaying process by ‘suspending’ applications for months
Ramblers raise alarm over Baħrija gate and rubble wall
A company whose ownership has yet to be established is requesting planning sanctioning of an illegal gate it erected to block access to Balta tal-Melħ, in Baħrija
2 June 2021, 2:20pm
by James Debono
A company whose ownership has yet to be established is requesting planning sanctioning of an illegal gate it erected to block access to Balta tal-Melħ, in Baħrija.
The company, Touchstone Ltd, also wants to build a 95m-long, 1.2m high rubble wall around land the company says it owns in the picturesque and archeologically sensitive ix-Xagħra tal-Vikarju in Baħrija.