Sanctioning of La Grotta club resurfaces after Gozo Minister takes over PA

A decade after its initial submission, a planning application to legalise unauthorised development activities at La Grotta club in Xlendi’s protected Lunzjata Valley has resurfaced at the Planning Authority (PA).

The application (PA01930/17) was filed in September 2014 and published for consultation last February after Clint Camilleri became the minister responsible for the Planning Authority.

It is unclear why the application, led by Gozitan businessman George Said, also known as id-Diaz, took ten years to be published. Yet, since its release, it has made significant progress.

For example, the Environment Resource Authority (ERA) has already granted its approval despite illegalities dating back 40 years and its location in a protected valley.

The only significant change since the application was submitted is a change in the architect, with Said now hiring William Lewis for the job. Lewis is the organising secretary of the Labour Party.

According to recent submissions from several government entities, the project is now awaiting the recommendations of the PA directorate on the next steps.

La Grotta club was built in 1986, a year before Labour’s 16-year rule ended.

The large club, mostly developed without permits, was built on a stretch of road linking Victoria to Xlendi and perched on the idyllic Lunzjata Valley. The venue is a popular destination for late-night entertainment, especially during the summer months in Gozo.

Despite receiving four enforcement orders between 1994 and 1999, the venue continued to operate illegally and was never shut down by the PA under various administrations.

Instead, using various legal loopholes and delaying tactics, including in court, Said managed to keep his business running uninterrupted to this day, with the illegalities still in place.

The only intervention made by the PA before 2013 was to stop Said from committing further illegalities.

According  to the last enforcement notice, which dates back 25 years (1999), the illegalities at La Grotta included “structures on different levels, including a pizzeria, stores, bars, toilets, terraces and stairs, and accommodation rooms found at the entrance down to the valley, along the entire complex of La Grotta.”

In the past, sanctioning illegal developments in protected valleys was prohibited entirely, but the government changed the rules in 2015 to allow such interventions.

Since the Labour Party was re-elected in 2013, George Said has been a member of the Gozo Channel’s Board of Directors. He has received various direct orders from the Gozo Ministry through several businesses, including Security First Services Ltd.

The same businessman is involved in another controversial property, a Knight’s era battery in Qbajjar, which was leased to him temporarily but has been left in ruins for decades and now risks collapsing.