Appeal filed to stop Portelli's apartment block pool in Xagħra valley
Activists and Xagħra residents have accused Planning Commission chairperson Martin Camilleri of “bending over backwards” to please business tycoon Joseph Portelli.
Five NGOs and Xagħra local council have filed an appeal seeking to revoke a permit that will allow a Portelli-led group to build a swimming pool on Outside /Development Zone land in a valley.
Mark Agius, a business partner of Portelli's, obtained the permit earlier this year, with the Camilleri-led PA commission voting in favour of granting it, despite a case officer recommending refusal and Portelli having started excavation work on the project months before having a permit in hand.
The appeal will be heard by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal.
The pool, which will form part of a seven-storey apartment block, will be built in the valley linking Xagħra and Marsalforn, in Gozo.
Portelli and his business partners applied to build the block in 2019 and made no mention of the pool, only filing an application for it in 2021.
The pool’s permit application (PA 0759/21) drew vociferous criticism at the application stage, with objectors repeatedly pushing against the plans.
But following some revisions by...