Manuel Mallia gets his ODZ villa extension at Ta’ Cenc

Aqra bil-Malti

Former minister Manuel Mallia has finally succeeded in plans to extend his villa in the protected Gozo valley of Ta’ Cenc complete with basement and swimming pool.

Extensive works to demolish most of the pre-1978 building are currently ongoing but the Planning Authority has not uploaded details of the commencement notice, including details of those responsible for the works on its website, as required by law.

Mallia was left out of cabinet by Robert Abela but was named High Commissioner to the UK and has lived in London for the past three years.

He has been trying to extend his Ta’ Cenc villa and to construct a massive swimming pool on protected garrigue land for years but the house is located in a Special Conservation Area and is fully protected under EU environmental rules.

Mallia’s original development application was turned down twice, first in 2011 and then at the appeals stage in 2012.

A new policy was drawn up when Labour returned to power in 2013. The Rural Policy and Design Guidelines 2014 gave leeway for extensions in ODZ areas and led to massive abuse in rural areas across the islands.

Mallia tasked architect Saviour Micallef – a close associate of Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli – to draw up fresh plans including a sizeable extension to Villa Feigel, the construction of a basement and garage to be built separately from the villa’s footprint, and a large swimming pool on garrigue land.

Both the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) objected to the proposal because both the basement and swimming pool went against the more lenient policy drawn up by Labour.

The planning directorate recommended refusal, but Mallia finally got his permit when both the ERA and the Superintendence lifted their objections following cosmetic amendments to the plans.

According to the Planning Commission responsible for ODZ permits, chaired on that occasion by Anthony Borg, the changes proposed were “acceptable” even though the basement and garage are still against policy.

Mallia’s development is metres away from a similar villa owned by the PN’s Demarco family, which Mallia used to justify his already established legal commitments in the area. When he bought his villa, Mallia worked in the law firm of the late former President Guido De Marco.

The Ta’ Cenc plateau has a cluster of 11 unique villas built in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Attempts to build more have always been turned down over the past 30 years.

Estate agents value each of these villas in the millions at current market prices.