Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1182484
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 NOVEMBER 2019 7 NEWS ANALYSIS probe which showed that ERA had been ignored by the PA in 69% of ap- proved ODZ applications. A ministe- rial board tasked with investigating the 2014 policy was than appointed. Another committee appointed by the PA started discussing the reform of this policy in April 2018. More than a year later "the meetings of this com- mittee were still ongoing". But irrespective of how bad the cur- rent policy is, in this case the planning board still had enough ammunition to turn down the permit. blame from politicians to the PA With ordinary structures with no vernacular values, owners have to prove past residential use in order to apply for their demolition and redevelopment. Policy 6.2.A, which was applied in the Qala case, spe- cifically allows the "rehabilitation and change of use of architectural historical or vernacular interest" allowing their transformation in to dwellings. The policy allows the construc- tion of a dwelling (even if the for- mer use was not residential), pro- vided the existing building to be converted has a minimum area 100sq.m. In the Qala case, the proposal did not qualify for a new residential use because the internal floor area was 21sq.m. But the same policy further speci- fies that a converted building can be used for a use that is already legally established. Therefore, the developers presented a death certificate indicating that Grazia Mifsud was found in an unnum- bered room in Ta' Muxi in August 1921. In this case doubts were still expressed with regards to the evi- dence of past ownership as other evidence was produced from par- ish archives showing that Mifsud lived near the Qala church, not in Ta' Muxi. But this was not the reason cited by the Planning Directorate to turn down the permit. The main reason was a decision taken by the PA's Environment and Planning Review Tribunal confirmed by the law courtsm, which clearly states that country ruins can only be turned in to dwellings if these were habitable in 1978. Explainer How the rural policy has opened floodgates for countryside development The courts now say that past resi- dential use of a building can only be legally established if the residen- tial use is visible on the 1978 aerial photographs. The court's decision was based on the definition of the same policy's glossary, according to which 'legally established' re- fers "to any intervention, including land-use change and land reclama- tion covered by a development per- mission or that which is visible on the 1978 aerial photographs." The court sentence in question was triggered by an appeal against the approval of a 180sq.m terraced house instead of "rural ruins" in Kercem in Gozo. The development was green-lit in a Special Area of Conservation instead of a pile of rubble. The proof of previous resi- dence consisted in the electoral register of 1902 and the superim- position of an 1898 map with recent aerial photography, which showed that the building mentioned in the electoral register "coincided with the ruins present on site today". On 17 January 2019 the permit was revoked by the PA's review tri- bunal, because the residential use in question was not visible in the aerial photos of 1978. The decision was later confirmed by Judge Mark Chetcuti on 20 March 2019. Although the original permit had already been revoked by the review tribunal , the PA still approved changes to the original permit on 27 March 2019. Awkwardly, even the case officer was recommending approval in this case. Subsequently an appeal was pre- sented by the same objectors, who challenged the permit because they had not been informed of the PA sitting despite being registered ob- jectors. The appeal was shot down down because the appellants had failed to proof their case. But the appeal did not address the other claim made by the appellants namely that that "any other appli- cation which seeks or sought to amend the original permit was null, since it seeks to amend something that does not exist". How the Law Courts re-interpreted the RPDG Developer Joseph Portelli announced that he will be voluntarily renouncing the permit authorising the transformation of the small Qala ruins into a villa with swimming poo