The planning authority’s auditor has lambasted the case officer overseeing an application for the upgrading of a football ground in Mosta, which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister today, for an “extremely poor” report that failed to address complaints by objectors.

The auditor said deficiencies in the report left the Malta Environment and Planning Authority’s Development Control Commission assume the role of mediator between the objectors and the applicant.

The football ground, which was upgraded over the past few months with fresh synthetic turf and better seating, had attracted a number of objections, primarily from residents. They complained about the visual impact a 12-course-high boundary wall would have on the area. Their pleas were upheld at a Mepa board meeting last year and the wall’s height had to be halved.

In his report, auditor Joe Falzon described as “sustained” the objectors’ complaint that the permit issued by Mepa had not been approved according to official policies. The cause of this, he said, was “a poor case officer’s report which did not lead the DCC properly, especially in view of the objections received”.

Referring to the developer’s application to amend the height limitation imposed by the permit, Mr Falzon said: “Accepting any amendment to the height of the boundary wall when there was an explicit con-dition for the maximum height of the wall is not acceptable.”

He said Mepa should instruct its case officers to ensure no applications for minor amendments to permit are considered if the proposed development was contrary to a specific condition set by the DCC for the original application to be approved. Only a full development application could amend such a condition.

In his concluding remarks the auditor said: “The concerns of the objectors were perfectly legitimate. Unfortunately, the case officer failed to consider them in any way. Obviously, the result may have been the same but there was also the possibility that the applicant would have come forward with a different project which would have mitigated the inconvenience the existing facility already created for the residents, rather than increase it.”

In his reaction to the critical report, Mepa chairman Austin Walker said the concerns of the applicant and the objectors “were carefully discussed and analysed by the Planning Directorate and a balance had to be sought to obtain the best planning solution within the existing policy framework”.