Meetings with applicants 'normal'

A former planning board chairman yesterday said it was normal for applicants and their architects to discuss problems directly with board members before a hearing in order to come to an "amicable agreement".

Paul Borg said: "I felt it my duty to try and sort out any problems with the project since it costs a lot of time and money".

He was testifying in the case of Anthony Mifsud and Phillip Azzopardi, a former planning board chairman and member respectively, who are pleading not guilty to trading in influence in the controversial Mistra disco project.

The controversy centres on a preliminary permit for an open-air disco, which the board had issued for a protected plot of land that belongs to Nationalist backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.

Not referring to this particular case, Mr Borg testified that meetings between board members and applicants ahead of public hearings, such as those held between the two accused, Dr Pullicino Orlando and the applicant, were normal fare at the planning authority. "We always felt that if there was an application that could be rectified and improved we would do it," he said.

Asked if he was ever pressured by politicians, he said he was but, then, everyone would try to put pressure on the board.

Police Inspector Angelo Gafà asked him whether there was any instance where he had made a decision about a development and was then pushed by a politician to change his mind. He replied: "Everyone tries to impress you but I cannot remember whether I was ever influenced in that way... I would never change my mind on a whim if a politician told me to do so".

Defence lawyer Joseph Giglio enquired about the nature of the meetings between applicants and the board. Mr Borg said they would consist of "open discussions with suggestions made from both sides about how the project could be improved".

Concluding his testimony, Mr Borg spoke very highly of Mr Mifsud, whom he said he had known for years: "He is a man of integrity and very professional".

Lawyers Stephen Tonna Lowell and Peter Fenech also appeared for the accused.