Mepa to reconsider development permit

Opposition Leader Alfred Sant yesterday demanded "a serious investigation" into the way Mepa had issued a permit for development in St Anne Square, Sliema.

He told Parliament that it was shameful that the authority had admitted to administrative errors leading to the granting of the permit but rather than correcting its errors, it had initially told affected neighbours to take the case to court.

Interjecting, Nationalist whip Mario Galea said the Mepa board would be meeting on Thursday to review the case and the decision could be reversed.

Dr Sant said it was even more shameful that the Mepa board had done nothing despite the complaints made by the people who lived around St Anne Square, and matters were only moving now that they had spoken to him and he was raising the case in Parliament.

Mr Galea said the decision was taken before Dr Sant spoke and newspaper adverts about the meeting were being published. Dr Sant, he said, should not be speaking at this stage.

Continuing, Dr Sant said all this underlined the need for an investigation into the procedures followed by Mepa, how it had granted a permit which violated development and sanitary regulations, and how its officials had not checked the veracity of details submitted with the development application which they were now claiming had misled them. This, he said, involved a case in the heart of Sliema, not some out of the way village. How could they not have known what was going on?

What were being described as administrative mistakes were clearly abuses which could not be tolerated, he said.

Earlier yesterday the residents of a block of flats in St Anne Square said they were mounting a campaign against a development which, they argued, will reduce the amount of ventilation of their homes. They also called on the Labour Party to demand a public inquiry.

The new development, which is an extension of an existing building next to the Magic Kiosk, has been given the green light by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Residents say that once built it would obstruct a section of their homes.

The Times recently revealed that, as things stand, the development would also breach sanitary regulations. Nonetheless, Mepa said at the time that it could do nothing about this, despite having approved the permit itself.

An enforcement notice has been issued against the developer, Leonard Cassar, but it relates to a technicality and not to this issue.

Mr Cassar had told The Times: "My development is sanctioned by Mepa and I cannot see how that can be revoked." He insisted that his position is regular.

However, the authority has now called a public hearing, invoking article 39A of the Development Planning Act, which could lead to the permit being modified or revoked.

The authority had said in a letter to the editor sent after the first story was published: "The Mepa board, during a meeting on May 23, investigated the complaint further and decided to request the permit holders/architect of the proposed development to make their submissions on the matter within 15 days as prima facie it was considered that the provisions of article 39A are applicable."

The residents, however, are not happy with this, saying it is clear that the authority made a mistake and should assume responsibility for it.