Planning Authority accused of approving relocation of non-existent sheep farm

The Planning Authority (PA) is facing allegations of having granted a permit for the relocation of a sheep farm that, according to objectors, does not in fact exist. The decision has prompted claims of political favouritism and regulatory manipulation to benefit a family reportedly linked to the Labour Party and the Ministry for Gozo.

The permit, granted earlier this month by the PA’s Planning Commission under chairman Martin Camilleri, allows for the relocation of a purported farm in Munxar to a previously undeveloped field on the outskirts of Sannat. The decision has prompted an appeal by a Gozitan family who argue that the Munxar site cited in the application was fictitious.

In their appeal before the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT), the family presented documentation asserting that the alleged farmer, Lawrence Cassar, has no legal title to the Munxar land and had occupied it without permission. They contend that the ‘existing’ farm cited in the permit application has no trace of prior planning approvals and that a small illegal structure built by Cassar was improperly used by the PA as justification for a relocation.

“The so-called ‘existing’ farm is without any previous permits traced and is located on land that does not belong to the applicant,” the appellants said, describing the permit as based on “false declarations” and “unchecked information.”

Political links and shifting fortunes

The contested permit, PA3056/24, concerns land classified as Outside Development Zone (ODZ) – an area typically off-limits for construction due to its environmental and landscape value. Cassar’s prior applications over two decades, including proposals for a greenhouse and another livestock facility, were repeatedly rejected.

His fortunes appeared to change in 2024, after the Gozo Minister assumed direct responsibility for the Planning Authority and Cassar’s son, John Cassar, was elected as a Labour councillor in Munxar. John Cassar’s partner, Vicky Xuereb, serves as Director General at the Gozo Ministry.

Soon after, a fresh development application was filed. Hearings were postponed multiple times, allowing the applicant’s architect, Alexander Bigeni, a relative of Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, to revise the plans in line with the Planning Commission’s guidance.

Despite the Planning Directorate’s consistent recommendation for refusal, the three government-appointed commission members, Chairman Martin Camilleri, Frank Ivan Caruana Catania and Joel Fenech, ultimately, the motion was approved unanimously