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MaltaToday 31 May 2023 MIDWEEK

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6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 31 MAY 2023 NEWS NEWS JAMES DEBONO FORMER magistrate Carol Peralta has withdrawn an application for a 118-room hotel, out- side Mellieħa devel- opment zones (ODZ), after a case officer rec- ommended refusal. Following the with- drawal of the applica- tion a public hearing scheduled for 22 June where the planning board was expected to turn down the application has been cancelled The six-storey hotel was proposed on a 5,500sq.m plot of agricultural land owned by Peralta on Triq Marfa next to the Omm il-Ħniena cemetery and opposite the Luna Hotel. A previous application for a hotel on the same site had been submitted by developer Mark Gaffarena back in 2008 but it had also been withdrawn. The PA's case officer had concluded that the proposed hotel was in breach of the Strategic Plan for the Envi- ronment and Development (SPED) which only allows rural development that has to be legitimate or necessary. Peralta's plan would also be in breach of the Northwest Local Plan policies protecting agricultural land, while part of the land in question is already reserved for future cemetery expansion. Over 300 people had objected to the hotel, including the Mellieħa lo- cal council, the Environment and Re- sources Authority and the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage. Peralta withdraws Mellieha ODZ hotel application Architects warned valuations following Development had been recommended for refusal by the PA's case officer Former magistrate Carol Peralta's (inset) land lies on Triq Marfa next to the Omm il-Hniena cemetery, opposite the Luna Hotel JAMES DEBONO ARCHITECTS have been warned that property valuations should not be solely based on the potential height of develop- ment established in the local plan. They have been told to consider also the surrounding context of a property, particularly in areas characterized by a uniform skyline and design. The warning comes in the wake of a landmark court judgment in March that revoked a permit for a five-storey block in Santa Lucija. Speakers addressing a seminar organ- ised by the Kamra tal-Periti on Tuesday concurred that height limitations estab- lished in the 2006 local plans and the Development Control Policy of 2015 in- dicate the maximum height permitted but do not give applicants an automatic right to build up to that height. This is especially so in areas charac- terised by a uniform design and skyline such as Santa Lucija. Architect Ondre Camilleri-Gaglione, CEO of Gaglione Capital, called on ar- chitects valuing properties to distin- guish between the current value of a house and its potential value if redevel- oped. "Unfortunately, very few make this distinction. One should advice clients by valuing the existing property and on- ly indicate the potential value on con- dition that permits are issued," he said. He also referred to the serious reper- cussions of property valuations based on the assumption that a permit will be approved in the future, as in such cases a refusal can have grave consequences. Architect Simone Vella Lenicker, a former President of the KTP, reminded architects that when carrying out valua- tions they must justify any assumptions made in their report. "Assuming that a two-storey prop- erty can be developed into a five-sto- rey block in absence of a permit is an assumption. If you are confident that this reflects the value of a property, you should state the reasons underlining the assumption," she said. This, she added, is crucial in valuations like those in a causa mortis involving the succession of immovable property from a deceased person, where a clear and finite figure is required. On the other hand, architects can give a range of values based on different scenarios when asked to value property for other reasons like bank loans, she said. Kamra tal-Periti President Andre Piz- zuto also insisted that valuations car- ried out by the Tax Commissioner do not conflict with those given by archi- tects. What has changed after Santa Lucija? According to lawyer Claire Bonello, the law courts have not invented the wheel by revoking the Santa Lucija per- mit. The court simply reiterated pre- vious rulings which had already estab- lished that planning decisions should not just be based on the height limita- tion but should take into account other policies "as has always been the case". "The building height in local plans is not a guarantee of height but a limita- tion ensuring that nobody builds over and above that height," Bonello said. She also referred to the misconcep- tion that blank party walls in areas with a uniform height and design can be al- lowed on the assumption that other de- velopments can follow suit in filling the gaps. "In reality existing policies simply ban blank party walls in areas characterised by a common design," she said. What has changed after the Santa Lu- cija court sentence according to Andre Pizzuto is the industry's awareness of already established policies. "The main change is that due to the media exposure, people are now aware that there is no automatic right to build five floors and so should the Planning Authority." In this context he expressed disap- pointment that the Planning Authori- ty declined an invitation to attend the seminar. Pizzuto was told that the PA could not participate because the Au- Speakers addressing a Kamra tal-Periti seminar concur that building heights in local plans are the maximum height allowed in any given area but not an automatic right

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