Illegal restaurant poses as farmhouse

A Gudja farmhouse that was illegally converted into a restaurant has neighbours at their wit’s end as it continues to operate despite having been slapped with an enforcement notice by the planning authority last year. “I’m often being kept up at night by this ‘restaurant’ and its boisterous clientele... shall I just turn my house into a każin or an illegal nightclub? Why is this being allowed? I’m fed up,” lamented one neighbouring resident who preferred not to be named. The restaurant, Scicluna Farmhouse located on the outskirts of Gudja, poses as a family residence but concealed behind a makeshift reed fence lies a large catering establishment with tables, outdoor ovens, restrooms and even a dining hall with flat screen televisions and air conditioning units. The restaurant’s owners were issued with an enforcement notice calling for all catering activities to be halted and for the site to be returned to its original state back in 2012. However, the site remains open despite the enforcement notice and a string of complaints from residents who contacted Times of Malta after their grievances fell on deaf ears. A planning authority spokes­man said the site had not yet been shut...