Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1140325
NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 JULY 2019 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The council said the powers given to the Housing Authority's chairperson "go way beyond the right of entry and search given to the police" under the Crimi- nal Code. The council described the of- fice of the Housing Authority chairperson as "plenipotentiary". "This gives rise to serious doubts as to the manner in which such wide discretionary powers are to be exercised and even more, as to the manner of how they are to be checked and balanced," the report reads. Speaking to MaltaToday, Kurt Xerri, the lawyer behind the drafting of the proposed leg- islation, said that he had met privately with notaries who had raised this issue. "While it's not expressly speci- fied in the law, the Housing Authority will inspect property when there's reasonable sus- picion of an unregistered resi- dence. It's the tenant himself who would file a report and the Authority would be acting upon that report," Xerri said, adding that the drafted bill is still liable to fine-tuning and is still at a dis- cussion stage. The council also questioned the proposed establishment of an Adjudicating Panel for Pri- vate Residential Leases in light of the already established Rent Regulation Board. "The creation of this new panel could in actual fact be seen as detrimental to the right of due process as it differs substantially from the established procedures in the Rent Regulation Board, presided over by a magistrate," the council said. The act lays down that the pro- posed panel will be appointed by the minister and will consist of a chairperson and two profes- sionals of "a recognised standing chosen from amongst persons of known integrity". New rent law empowers Housing Authority to search residences at will, Notarial Council warns JAMES DEBONO IT may be the end of the road for Lud- wig Camilleri's attempt to relocate a petrol station from Birkirkara's Valley Road to outside the development zones on the Rabat Road near Attard. Camilleri, the son of former Lorry Sant associate Piju Camilleri, acquired the petrol pump's licence in 2014, and had first applied for its relocation to Salini. When that "non-starter" was dropped from pursuing a planning permit, he relocated the pump to land he owns on the Rabat road. But this relocation is now being rec- ommended for refusal. The same plot of land at Rmiedi had been previously identified for a private cemetery developed by Camilleri's Luqa Developments. But the application was withdrawn after a policy in 2014 ruled out any new ODZ cemeteries. Earlier in 1993, the Planning Author- ity issued an enforcement order against Michael Axisa for constructing an ille- gal dwelling on the site. Although the dwelling was removed, the site was nev- er restored. Although the Planning Authority's board is bound to reject the relocation in its 25 July meeting, it might not be the end to this long planning saga: the PA's decision will be based on the present rules governing relocated fuel stations. The application fulfils most of the cri- teria of the existing policy, which per- mits massive 3,000 sq.m developments in the ODZ; butu the PA's planning di- rectorate is calling for a refusal because the nearby Pit Stop petrol pump is just 500m away, a point being disputed by Camilleri. Now a draft policy to revise the con- troversial fuel pump policy, still await- ing approval, would automatically rule out ODZ fuel stations on agricultural land, apart from limiting them to 1,000 sq.m. But the government has turned down a proposal by Moviment Graffitti to post- pone all decisions on petrol stations un- til after the approval of the new policy. This means that a refusal by the PA board could be overturned at appeals stage by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, whose meetings at- tract less media attention. The PA's case officer says Camilleri's application is in breach of policy be- cause it is located less than 500m from an existing service station "which al- though located on the opposite lane, is easily accessible"; and because his site is within a 300m buffer zone for ground- water – yet the applicant has relocated the fuel tanks right outside that buffer zone. Camilleri's greatest stumbling block is that the fuel service stations rules could allow establishments within 500m of a nearby site, if located on the opposite side of the road "f it can be demonstrat- ed that traffic on the opposite lane from the existing petrol station cannot easily access it". Camilleri's site is 375m away from At- tard's Pit Stop station, which the case officer rightly notes is easily accessible from the opposite lane. But the developer has recently pre- sented a map from the design of the new Central Road Link, claiming the dis- tance between the proposed and the ex- isting station would now be extended to 510m. The Environment and Resources Authority had accused the developer of going to great lengths with an over- stretched interpretation of the entry points, "so as to arrive at a figure that just exceeds the policy threshold". Camilleri's fuel station is on "de- graded" land where material removed through a PA direct action, was again illegally dumped. The ERA insists that the land should be restored and that it cannot serve as a pretext for further ODZ development. The site also includes 377 sq.m of vines, which have a high agriculture value. But in the latest drawings the vineyard is not impinged. Rabat road petrol pump set for refusal