Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/867386
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2017 News Caravan site proposed in Marsaskala JAMES DEBONO A caravan site with a snack bar, storage space, showers, toilets, common pool with a deck area and surface parking with landscaping is being proposed on a 5,000m2 site in St Thomas Bay, Marsas- kala. The project will be landscaped with tamarisk and judas trees. Anthony Pace, who owns the land in question and is proposing the caravan site, is a director of Corporate Develop- ments Limited and owns Laak Limited, which are involved in the property and fair and amusement park business. The local plan approved in 2006 states clearly that no extensions to existing beach rooms or additional beach rooms can be permitted until the approval of an Action Plan for the St Thomas Bay area. But no such plan has been drafted yet. In fact a number of applications to le- galise the existing boathouses have been recommended for refusal by the Planning Directorate. The project was originally proposed in 2013 through a preliminary application which never materialised into a full plan- ning application. But the process has been resurrected through a formal application presented on 29 March which now has been vali- dated by the Planning Authority. The site is currently vacant and en- closed by a boundary wall and secured with a steel gate. Vegetation on the site consists of a number of fig trees. A Project Development Statement pre- sented by Pace in 2013 says that due to the presence of the neighbouring boat- houses, the area is ideal for a caravan park. The area surrounding the site is already being used illegally for caravans and oth- er structures. The PDS claimed that a well-managed, self-contained caravan park would help in eliminating illegally and randomly placed caravans on public land, litter- ing and the parking of vehicles along the coastline. In 1998 the same owner had proposed a recreational area which included "an aquaculture demonstration production unit" and "recreational fishing facility". But the application was refused. Three years before the area was ear- marked for a tourist village by another owner, but the application was with- drawn. Before 2013 the government had dropped plans for caravan sites on public land in Anchor Bay and in Marsaskala af- ter opposition by NGOs. 2013 through a preliminary application Lawyer set to hold court responsible for disbarred lawyer's deteriorating condition MATTHEW AGIUS THE lawyer defending disbarred lawyer Patrick Spiteri has placed the responsibility for his client's deteriorating health squarely on the court. In a sitting yesterday morning, Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona heard a court-appoint- ed doctor who visited Spiteri in prison, testify that Spiteri's con- dition was worsening due to his incarceration and recommend that he be held at home. Spiteri was extradited to Malta from the UK in May to answer to a number of criminal charg- es of fraud and misappropria- tion thought to total some €7.4 million. The cases are spread amongst three different mag- istrates, who all must approve his bail requests before he is re- leased. Yesterday morning a court- appointed consultant physician reported that Spiteri could not be held in prison because of the overcrowding, stress and ciga- rettes which exacerbate a rare skin condition called Behchet's syndrome, which he had been diagnosed as suffering from. Defence lawyer Stefano Filletti argued that his client's continued detention was a disproportion- ate measure because Spiteri was never shown to be on the run. "He didn't return for his sittings but we have seen today that the UK doctors had advised against his return to Malta due to his condition. His absence was not the result of an escape but medi- cal advice that is a justified legal reason for his absence." The picture painted by the prosecution, that Spiteri had been a difficult person to trace and return to Malta, was not ac- curate, said the lawyer. "This means he is not the un- trustwothy person depicted by the prosecution. He is a man who was sick and being treated... So much so, that the UK authori- ties had only released him for travel after a Maltese doctor sent to accompany him to Malta took personal responsibility for the man's health during his transit to Malta." Spiteri also has no access to his documents, his lawyer said, echoing a submission made last week in one of his other cases. "How can you expect him to prepare his defence if he is being denied access to his documents? "Is it possible that we cannot find a formula which allows him to be held at a private residence with all the safeguards needed and which balances his right to health, while ensuring that he at- tends court sittings?" The court had also been shown that his stay in prison was harm- ing his health, submitted Filletti, reminding the court that stress, overcrowding and smoking all worsen his medical condition. "The doctor's medical recom- mendation, not a social sugges- tion, is that he be held at a private residence." Earlier this month, Spiteri's elderly parents offered a different court to accommodate him at their home if granted bail. The lawyer described Spiteri's continued incarceration as "al- most inhuman and degrading treatment. Painful spasms, nau- sea, ulcers, open wounds. These all bring pain with them. In the circumstances he should not be denied bail. "From now on, with all due re- spect, the health of this man is the responsibility of whoever is making this decision. The doc- tor has spoken and said that he should not be held in prison." Lawyer insists Patrick Spiteri should be granted house arrest