Application for door, window refused just 200m away from Bahrija site

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority turned down an application for an additional door and window on a property just 200 metres away from the site on which the Nationalist Party president was granted permission to rebuild a farmhouse.

The woman's application was turned down seven months before PN president Victor Scerri was given the green light by the authority to knock down parts of the farmhouse he owns in Bahrija. Later, he was given permission to demolish the entire building and build a two-storey house.

Both properties are outside development zones in an area of high ecological importance. However, while planning officers recommended Dr Scerri's application be turned down four times between 2000 and 2007 and yet it was still approved by different boards, in the case of his less fortunate neighbour they recommended that the alterations should be accepted.

However, in this case the board felt it should turn down the request for a new door a window and the "replacement of broken roof slabs with similar ones".

The news comes after Dr Scerri decided to halt construction work at the site, following protests by the environmental lobby.

The project is a two-storey farmhouse in the limits of Bahrija, which Dr Scerri obtained permission to demolish and rebuild.

When he first applied for a permit in 2000, Mepa was reluctant to even allow partial demolition of the old farmhouse. Then, in September 2007, he was allowed to demolish it completely and extend it by a third.

The PN president has denied exerting any undue pressure and called on the police and Mepa to investigate.

Environmental groups, which organised an onsite protest against the development on Thursday, yesterday welcomed Dr Scerri's decision to halt works pending the inquiries but insisted they will keep pursuing the matter.

There has been no public announcement by the police so far, but Mepa audit officer Joe Falzon yesterday said he should complete a preliminary report within two weeks. The case of the refused alterations is not the only apparent inconsistency by the authority in the area. Further away from Dr Scerri's property an application for a pump room and tool shed for farming use was also turned down in 2003.

Another man, who was twice refused a request to convert a reservoir into a pool, has now engaged Dr Scerri's architect, PN's Siggiewi mayor Robert Musumeci, who has also been attacked by environmental groups.