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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 AUGUST 2014 News 5 MEPA to ignore Tribunal's sentence on illegal buildings JAMES DEBONO THE Malta Environment and Plan- ning is standing by its legal inter- pretation that the 'Sixth Schedule' of the Environment Planning Act – which prevents it from legalising illegal developments in protected areas – cannot be applied retro- actively to applications presented before 2011. Thus the authority will be dis- regarding a recent landmark sen- tence handed down by the Review Tribunal for the Environment and Planning which decreed that the ban on 'sanctioning' illegal build- ings in scheduled and ODZ areas is retroactive. The consequence was that the tribunal ruling quashed the inter- pretation given by the MEPA board in December 2011 that 'Schedule 6' – under which such decisions fall – only applied to applications submitted after 2011. The 'Sixth Schedule' not only bans any regularisation of illegal buildings in scheduled areas like Natura 2000 sites but also of any illegal structure located outside development schemes which was constructed after 2008. A spokesperson for MEPA told MaltaToday that the authority's interpretation of the law remains the same as given on the author- ity's website, which states that the 'Sixth Schedule' of the law applies only to applications submitted af- ter 1 January, 2011. MaltaToday is informed that the tribunal's strict interpretation of the 'Sixth Schedule' has opened a can of worms at MEPA. This is because apart from ban- ning the regularisation of build- ings in scheduled zones like Natu- ra 2000 sites, the 'Sixth Schedule' also forbids MEPA from regularis- ing any illegal development located Outside Development Zones if this was constructed after May 2008. Only livestock farms and devel- opment not exceeding the existing footprint of a legal building are ex- empted from this blanket ban. Were MEPA to heed the tribunal's sentence it would lose the power to regularise any ODZ illegal devel- opments constructed after 2008 even in cases where the application to regularise the development was presented before January 2011. One such pending planning ap- plication presented in December 2009 is to regularise illegalities in the Monte Kristo Winery and Vineyards by the Polidano Group. The application is still being "vet- ted" by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. The landmark sentence Curiously it was MEPA's own head of legal service, Anthony De Gaetano who argued that 'Schedule 6' should be applied retroactively in a case involving illegal develop- ment in Dwejra. The tribunal – composed of ar- chitects Chris Falzon and Jevon Vella, and lawyer Ramon Rossig- naud – upheld a decision taken by the MEPA board when it was chaired by Austin Walker in 2010, to deny a permit to a fishery store located at Dwejra in Gozo, because the law stated that no illegalities could be legalised on scheduled sites. The ruling confirmed a MaltaTo- day probe in July 2011, which re- vealed that the former Nationalist government had backtracked on issuing a legal notice drafted by MEPA chief executive Ian Stafrace, specifying that MEPA could still consider applications to sanction illegalities in protected areas if presented before January 2011. The legal notice was aborted fol- lowing reports by MaltaToday. Indeed, in its submissions, the fishery store's lawyer referred to Stafrace's declaration that the Sixth Schedule, which bans MEPA from sanctioning illegalities on scheduled sites, should not be ap- plied retroactively; and that the issue had to be clarified in Legal Notice 514/10. But De Gaetano said that al- though MEPA intended to issue the legal notice in July 2011, it was never issued. De Geatano directly referred to the MaltaToday article published in 2011, in which a spokesperson for former environment minister Mario de Marco confirmed that the government had no intention of issuing the proposed legal notice. The Tribunal proceeded to up- hold De Geatano's argument, that the present law – which makes no exemptions for pre-2011 applica- tions – remains binding. Had the law not been retroactive- ly applied, it would not even be able to hear the case itself, because the Tribunal itself was created by the 2011 law that replaced the Plan- ning Appeals Board. The present administration now plans to remove the Sixth Schedule entirely. The document entitled "For an efficient planning system" pro- poses the deletion of the Sixth Schedule which will be replaced by the imposition of daily fines: ostensibly, this would mean that daily fines would come into place from the day somebody applies to regularise their illegal develop- ment, to the date that MEPA issues permission. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Senglea council calls for changes to design of proposed hotel JAMES DEBONO IN a letter sent to the Malta En- vironment and Planning Author- ity last week, Senglea local council warned that the development of a 20-room boutique hotel in Victory Street may "disfigure the image of one of the historical areas" of the city. While hailing the investment in tourism in Senglea, the council called on MEPA to ensure that the development does not impact on the harbour views of buildings on the opposite side of Victory Street. The council augured that new design plans are considered to ad- dress these concerns. Flimkien Ghal Ambjent Ahjar also presented objections. The plans were changed after the Superintendence for Cultural Her- itage called on MEPA to reject the application. The first plans presented by the developer, Saviour Pace, envisaged a receded third and fourth storey. The new hotel would have risen higher than the adjacent Malta La- bour Party building, impinging on views taking the centre stage from the nearby 16th century Church of San Giljan. Subsequently new plans were pre- sented eliminating the proposed fourth f loor thus minimising the visual impact of the project. On 8 August MEPA decided to suspend the processing of the ap- plication. A decision on this ap- plication cannot now be taken until the process is reactivated by MEPA. Photomontage of original proposal presented by the developer in 2013. Subsequently the height of the project was reduced from four to three storeys.

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