From garage to home: Minister’s driver files new plans for Nadur ODZ site

A warning by the Environment and Resources Authority over a controversial ODZ permit granted to the driver of Gozo minister Clint Camilleri – at the time also responsible for planning – has gained fresh relevance following a new application to build a home on the same Nadur site.

The new application, PA/05649/26, proposes a two-bedroom residence on land at Triq ta’ Hida, where Ronnie Camilleri had previously secured a controversial permit to construct a garage and reservoir.

Camilleri is the Gozo Minister’s driver.

The latest plans were submitted through architect Alex Bigeni, who also represented Camilleri in the original application. Bigeni is a former consultant to the minister.

The residential proposal follows the Planning Commission’s controversial approval of development on the Outside Development Zone plot in 2024.

That application initially sought permission for a garage of approximately 200 square metres, together with a reservoir and other works on a ridge overlooking the Ramla Bay area.

The Planning Directorate recommended that the application be refused, while ERA questioned whether the proposed development was genuinely intended to serve as a garage.

In its assessment, the environmental watchdog highlighted the extensive area that would be tiled or covered, the construction of a reservoir and a long boundary wall.

These features, ERA had said, “put into question the motives behind this development of a garage”.

Residents and environmental organisations also objected to the development.

Rather than deciding the application based on the original proposal, the Planning Commission postponed its decision three times, allowing revised plans to be submitted. Permission was eventually granted after the proposed development was reduced.

Martin Camilleri chaired the commission.

At the time, The Shift noted that applications for garages and similar structures on ODZ land could eventually be followed by proposals for residential development, particularly when the extent of the initial works appeared disproportionate to their declared purpose.

The submission of plans for a two-bedroom home on the same parcel has now turned that possibility into a concrete planning application.

The Planning Authority is now being asked to decide whether a residence on the ODZ site complies with Malta’s planning policies and whether further development of the rural parcel should be permitted.