Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/705249
5 JAMES DEBONO A permit for a 607m2 under- ground extension to a winery owned by former university rec- tor Juanito Camilleri has been suspended pending an investiga- tion of an "apparent procedural error" by the board members tak- ing the decision. The Planning Directorate and the PA's legal office have called on the authority to investigate whether the permit can be re- voked, not due to any shortcom- ing on the part of the applicant but due to a procedural error by the three members of the board who took the decision. The winery extension was ap- proved in a single sitting by two votes against one despite the negative recommendation of the case officer. Chairperson Eliza- beth Ellul was not present for the meeting. But it turns out that according to a legal notice issued in 2016, in cases where a majority of board members intend voting against the advice of the case officer, the decision has to be put off to an- other sitting. "It is apparent that a procedural error was made when the commission overturned the recommendation in its first sit- ting," a document presented by the directorate states. But to revoke the permit the PA would require evidence that this "error" had "a material bearing" on the issue of the permit. This would require the PA to prove that "had the cor- rect information been available at the time of the decision, the deci- sion would have been different". The Planning Directorate argues that if the decision was deferred, the case officer would have been asked again for feedback which could have resulted in the board expressing a different opinion in the second sitting which, in this case, never took place.The devel- opment of the two-storey winery was originally approved in 2012. The new proposal extends the basement from the 253 square metres approved in 2008 to 860 square metres. The extended winery, located in the Ta' Betta estates in Ta' Bur il- Kbir, which cover 40,000 square metres of land, is set to produce 30,000 bottles of wine a year. The company has been ceritified as organic since 2009. The land on which the winery was approved was not used for ag- riculture but consisted of waste- land used by the previous owner as a place where to dump unsold produce. The rural policy approved in 2014 clearly states that ODZ win- eries should be restricted to 200 square metres and a basement. The policy states that the area of the basement should not count as part of the total f loor area but the policy also defines a basement as "an additional f loor under the building's footprint". The case officer argued that the winery as approved in 2012 al- ready exceeded this limit and that the proposed basement went be- yond not just the footprint of the existing building but also the ap- proved paved area. Therefore he concluded that the permit could not be issued. But the Agriculture Advisory Committee confirmed the genu- ine agricultural need for the new development. Chairperson Elizabeth Ellul, who was not present when the approval decision was taken on 8 June, has declared that she would have voted against the permit at the meeting dur- ing which the board imposed the condition through which Camilleri will have to plant three Gharghar trees on site and donate 100 indig- enous trees, which will be grown on a public site. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 JULY 2016 News Operational Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Advert part-financed by the European Regional and Development Fund Co-financing rate: Public Eligible (80% European Union; 20% National Funds) ANNOUNCEMENT – 13 th July 2016 Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges The Measures and Support Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, designated by the Managing Authority as the Intermediate Body responsible for administering aid schemes for enterprises under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2014 – 2020 programming period, would like to announce the following calls: • Call 1 – SME Growth Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3d – Supporting the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes. • Call 1 – Start-up Investment Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3a – Promoting entrepreneurship in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators. These calls will close on Friday, 30 th September 2016 at noon. Information sessions will be organised for prospective applicants. Dates and venues will be notified in the coming days. Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation, as well as on the information sessions may be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt. Operational Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Advert part-financed by the European Regional and Development Fund Co-financing rate: Public Eligible (80% European Union; 20% National Funds) ANNOUNCEMENT – 13 th July 2016 Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges The Measures and Support Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, designated by the Managing Authority as the Intermediate Body responsible for administering aid schemes for enterprises under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2014 – 2020 programming period, would like to announce the following calls: • Call 1 – SME Growth Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3d – Supporting the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes. • Call 1 – Start-up Investment Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3a – Promoting entrepreneurship in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators. These calls will close on Friday, 30 th September 2016 at noon. Information sessions will be organised for prospective applicants. Dates and venues will be notified in the coming days. Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation, as well as on the information sessions may be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt. Operational Programme I – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 "Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges" Advert part-financed by the European Regional and Development Fund Co-financing rate: Public Eligible (80% European Union; 20% National Funds) ANNOUNCEMENT – 13 th July 2016 Business Enhance ERDF Grant Schemes Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 Fostering a competitive and sustainable economy to meet our challenges The Measures and Support Division within the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, designated by the Managing Authority as the Intermediate Body responsible for administering aid schemes for enterprises under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2014 – 2020 programming period, would like to announce the following calls: • Call 1 – SME Growth Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3d – Supporting the capacity of SMEs to grow in regional, national and international markets, and to engage in innovation processes. • Call 1 – Start-up Investment Grant Scheme Priority Axis 3 – 'Enhancing Malta's competitiveness through investment in SMEs' Investment Priority (IP) 3a – Promoting entrepreneurship in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms, including through business incubators. These calls will close on Friday, 30 th September 2016 at noon. Information sessions will be organised for prospective applicants. Dates and venues will be notified in the coming days. Further information on these calls including the respective Guidance Notes and the Guidelines for Implementation, as well as on the information sessions may be obtained from https://businessenhance.gov.mt. Procedural error could lead to revocation of winery permit The Planning Authority has put on hold the permit for a 900 square metre basement extension to a Siggiewi ODZ winery belonging to former university rector Juanito Camilleri Cassola urges fellow academics to stand up for purged Turkish teachers TIM DIACONO ALTERNATTIVA Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola urged his fellow Maltese academics to stand up for the over 15,000 edu- cation staff in Turkey who have been suspended in the wake of the attempted coup. "I hope Maltese academics can show solidarity with their Turk- ish colleagues. Free thinking is not a crime," Cassola, a professor of Maltese and literature, wrote in a Facebook post. The Turkish ministry of educa- tion accused the purged educa- tion staff of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric whom the Turkish government believes was behind last Friday's military coup attempt. Turkish state media also re- ported that the country's High Education board has also or- dered the resignation of over 1,500 university deans. The purge comes after Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim pledged to take action against Gulen's supporters. "I am sorry but this parallel ter- rorist organisation will no longer be an effective pawn for any country," he said. "We will dig them up by their roots so that no clandestine terrorist organisa- tion will have the nerve to betray our blessed people again." Arnold Cassola called on Maltese academic colleagues to stand up in solidarity with 15,000 suspended Turkish educators