Auditor’s report reopens can of worms at MEPA

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority's auditor Joe Falzon has lambasted the approval of three villas at It-Tafal tal-Imdina, an area in Rabat, suspected of being approved against policy just a week before the 2008 general elections.

The former Development Control Commission approved the final permit for the development on 26 February 2008, just 10 days before the 2008 elections.

According to Falzon, the two applications are contrary to established policies.

The application, submitted in 1998 to build four villas, had been refused by the DCC and the appeal dismissed by the planning appeals board because no development was allowed in the "green belt" under question.

Then in 2002, Joseph Baldacchino - on behalf of the Olive Gardens company - submitted an outline application for two semi-detached villas and a detached villa.

That same year, the case officer's report called for the rejection of his application due to the "deleterious effect" it would have on the area.

In March 2003, the DCC refused the new application, which again was appealed. Once again, the DCC was advised by the Local Plan Unit that a substantial part of the site was outside the development zone, and that a specific policy earmarked the area to stay undeveloped and retain its rural character.

But in September 2003, the DCC held a site inspection to find the area was abandoned land and finding that no third-party views were affected by the development. This spurred to call for a revision of architectural plans, and in June 2004 it issued an outline permit for the villas.

The only justification given was that "the development was less intensive than in the previous application" dismissed by MEPA some years before.

In 2004, the applicants applied for a full development permit.

MEPA's own Integrated Heritage Management Team sent a detailed memorandum against the approval of the villas to MEPA's executive committee. "The site is ODZ, within an Urban Conservation Area and lies within the scheduled Area of Archaeological Importance of the ancient Punic city of Melite at Rabat and Mdina."

The IMHT also said no consultation was held with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, and referred to evidence of "rich burials" from this area in official 19th century archaeological reports.

In December 2004, the superintendence for cultural heritage voiced its concern at the possible damage to the archaeological heritage and impact on the Rabat skyline.

But although the superintendence pointing out that "ancient tombs have been recorded in the vicinity of the site", a study by the superintendence later concluded that "the findings are not such as to exclude the appropriate development of the site."

And despite various objections to the development, a new case officer's report recommended the approval of the villas due to the commitment taken by MEPA by issuing the outline permit. The application was approved on 26 February 2008.

Auditor's conclusions

According to auditor Joe Falzon,  the facts of the case speak for themselves. "On at least two separate occasions the proposed development on the site had been refused for environmental reasons."

The auditor also quoted the local plan, which states clearly that the area in question "is to be protected from any development" and only minor extensions to existing structures can be permitted.

Falzon said the only justification the DCC could produce was that the development was less intense than that previously proposed. "In reality the development in question was materially the same as that refused by MEPA in PA 7249/98."

Even if the provisions of the local plan are ignored, the previous refusal was "sufficient reason" for refusing the latter application, Falzon said.

He added that nothing had changed in the short time between the two applications except that "the local plan which was in an advanced stage of preparation made the requirements on the site more onerous."

This site is defined as an "open space" in the North West Local Plan and a "scheduled area of archaeological importance".

Falzon concluded that the DCC was "solely responsible for approving an application contrary to established policies" and that they had approved something which was "objectionable in principle."

He also lambasted the DCC members for "rendering the provisions of the Local Plan which was in the process of being prepared, irrelevant".

The auditor concluded that both the outline permit issued in 2004 and the full permit issued in 2008 were "approved contrary to established policies". 

However, according to Falzon, no redress can be offered as there are no grounds for the withdrawal of permits if these conflict with policies, in the present law.

In fact a permit can only be withdrawn if a decision is based on incorrect or fraudulent information. But residents represented by architect and Alternattiva Demokratika official Carmel Cacopardo have now found a way to throw the ball back on MEPA's court by presenting a 114-strong petition against the approval of an application that renews the original permit. 

MEPA's power of incumbency

The latest auditor's report on the Rabat permit throws the spotlight on how politically-appointed boards dispensed permits on the eve of the last election.

A MaltaToday probe published in March 2008 showed that MEPA's development control commissions considered an amazing total of 430 cases in the last week of the election of 8 March, 2008 - nearly three times the number of cases considered over the same period a year before. In 49 cases, the DCC boards ignored the case officers' negative recommendations, and issued a permit all the same.

One of the applications recommended for refusal by the case officer, but which was accepted by the board, involved the sanctioning of a whole building and to change its use from a garage into a place to manufacture ravioli in an urban conservation area in Zebbug, Gozo. Another permit issued during election week was that for an ODZ winery in a rural conservation area at il-Hawlija in Rabat (Malta). On this occasion, the case officer report recommended approval on condition that the garigue in the area is protected.

MEPA also approved an outline permit for a doubling in size of the floor area of the Exiles waterpolo club, which will include a restaurant on its upper floor.