MEPA bends the rules to allow sanctioning of illegal buildings

MEPA reform approved by parliament in 2010 gave birth to a law that forbids the authority from approving illegal development on scheduled sites – like areas of scientific importance, special conservation areas and Natura 2000 sites.

Now, the authority is planning a legal change that will allow it to legalise any such abusive development, if owners presented an application for a permit before January 2011.  A draft legal notice states that the provisions of Article 70 of the  Environment and Development Planning Act  which ban the sanctioning of buildings on properties included in Schedule 6 of the same law will only apply to new applications submitted on or after 1st January 2011.

MEPA chief executive Ian Stafrace has already given notice during a board meeting that he intends to amend the law.

This decision is expected to have a bearing on hundreds of pending cases awaiting decisions by MEPA, as well as a number of appeals against MEPA’s refusal to sanction illegalities on protected areas: since the start of the year, under the new MEPA regime owners of illegally-built structures in these scheduled areas could expect their applications for sanctioning to be refused outright by MEPA.

The stage is now set for a reversal of this crucial aspect of the MEPA reform – one of the electoral planks of the Gonzi administration.

So while the MEPA board, which is constantly in the media spotlight, appears to be heeding the government’s call for zerotolerance on outside development zones (ODZ) illegalities, its decisions could end up being overruled by the appeals’ tribunal, which is legally independent of MEPA.

Scheduled properties include historical buildings or archaeological remains, as well as areas protected for their natural beauty, ecological or scientific value.

Such planning applications for sanctioning will include pending appeals by a number of boathouse owners in Dwejra, which the MEPA board has refused to
sanction in the past two years.

MEPA had originally approved scores of similar boathouses in the same location on the eve of the 2008 general elections.

Since the applications to sanction the boathouses in Dwejra were presented before 2011, owners would be able to cite the new legal notice when their case is heard by the tribunal hearing their appeal.

Recently, MEPA chairman Austin Walker said the reasons the board refused to sanction the Dwejra boathouses was that these were located in a scheduled area and this went “against the public interest”.

But again, it is doubtful whether this reason will remain valid if the legal notice allowing MEPA to sanction pre-2011 illegalities
comes in place.

In fact, MaltaToday is informed that lawyers representing the owners of the Dwejra boathouses are already citing the draft legal notice in appeals hearings, to enable them to sanction the development.
The decision would also have a bearing on hundreds of other applications to sanction development on protected areas.