Shifting goalposts at Portomaso

Abstract

PA04096/08 is not your run-of-the-mill planning application. It was submitted by the Portomaso magnates to further extend their real estate on what should be a protected ecological zone. In 1996, amid the furore caused by the original permit, the developers had put up prominent fences with a notice saying that the coastal stretch which is now in their sights was being temporarily cordoned off on Mepa's advice to safeguard its important ecological status. The notice read: 'As part of the Hilton site redevelopment project, the site within this wall is being sealed off for the protection of important ecological species during project construction and will be reopened to the public...' What they conveniently failed to mention was that the site would be reopened to the public only on a temporary 13-year emphyteusis, after which they would seek to develop it.