Nothing irregular in oil depot demolition but...

The planning authority’s auditor has found nothing irregular in the application process for the demolition of a British-built oil depot in Kalkara but has commented negatively on the conflicting expert advice given.

The government’s EU-funded project to demolish the building and restore the Vittoriosa bastions behind it was approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board in July, with Labour Party representative Roderick Galdes being the only one to vote against.

Subsequently, Mr Galdes had requested Mepa auditor Joe Falzon to investigate the application’s planning process.

The report, seen by this newspaper, found no indication of irregularity but said Mepa should insist on proper documentation when applications involving buildings of potential historical merit were assessed.

Without entering into the merits of the application itself, Mr Falzon reserved harsh words for the conflicting advice given by heritage experts.

In this case, the Superintendent of Fortifications and the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage were in favour of the application while the Environment Protection Department and the Heritage Planning Unit were against.

While lauding the credentials of the Superintendent of Fortifications, Mr Falzon said he got the impression the superintendent was acting as a “consultant of the applicant”.

“I still have to see a report commissioned by the applicant, which is not favourable to the proposals of the applicant,” he said, speaking in general.

Insisting he was not comfortable with the way expert advice was obtained in this case, Mr Falzon said it would have been appropriate had Mepa held a meeting for all parties together so that a common recommendation would have been presented.

As for the allegations by Mr Galdes that there may have been pressure on one or more of the experts to come up with a positive recommendation, the auditor said he could not find any indication this happened but would not categorically exclude it either.

The Heritage Advisory Committee had changed its opinion on the development after receiving a detailed report on the fortifications by the Superintendent of Fortifications, Stephen Spiteri.

When voting against the project Mr Galdes had insisted that while the bastions were of historic importance the oil depot also had historical value.

However, the Mepa board decided the building was unrelated to the historic fortifications and served mainly to obscure them from view.

The project will be co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is expected to cost about €46,000.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com