Developer Joseph Portelli has been given the green light for two large swimming pools in a protected area in Qala which he first started excavating without permits. The Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to approve the pools in an area outside development boundaries known as Ta’Kassja. Portelli, a prolific developer in Malta and Gozo, is building a controversial four-storey residential complex in the rural Gozitan village that will include 164 apartments, a pool area and a large garden. Designs for the pool area submitted by the developer. The project's pools had been recommended for refusal by the planning case officer assigned to review it, however, the three-person commission voted to approve it after the developer agreed to carry out alterations. Portelli has insisted he had every right to develop there, however, the application is listed as Outside the Development Zone. The Planning Authority had last year halted excavation works for the pool after NGO Moviment Graffitti photographed excavators carrying out work in an area outside the development zone without a permit. Reacting to news of the approval, Moviment Graffitti on Tuesday said that Portelli was getting...
