Call to revoke Tal-Virtù Seminary school permit

Tal-Virtù residents have asked the planning authority to “immediately” revoke the Archbishop’s Seminary extension permit because, they claim, it is based on a “fraudulent” case officer’s report.

The planning report was deliberately false, misleading and incorrect because it misquoted the planning policies for the area, the residents alleged in a letter to Malta Environment and Planning Authority chairman Austin Walker.

They also requested Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino to investigate the Seminary extension, which forms part of the education reform being undertaken by Church schools in line with national policies. The residents had previously filed a judicial protest and sent a 225-signature petition to the Archbishop.

Sent last week, the request was filed three days before the planning authority board “unanimously exonerated” Mepa’s case officer and team manager, who compiled the report, from any wrongdoing. This contrasted with the report of auditor Joe Falzon, who had slammed the process that led to the permit, describing the case officer’s assessment as “sheer incompetence or abuse”.

The residents said the case officer’s report cited the development “for future school related facilities expansion”. They pointed out, however, that Tal-Virtù was classified as a “residential priority area” which, among other things, protected the area from excessive massing or building density which would affect the scenic value and create more traffic.

The fact that the report ignores policies relevant to the development application “can only be interpreted as deliberately seeking a conclusion that is false, misleading and incorrect”, the residents wrote.

Referring to the auditor’s criticism that no traffic assessment was undertaken, the residents pointed out that no objections were filed by Transport Malta because the case officer turned to the wrong official. “It appears that the official at Transport Malta responsible for traffic impact assessments was not even aware of this application – let alone consulted,” they said.

They are requesting the permit to be revoked under Article 77 of the Development Planning Act, formerly known as Article 39A used to invalidate the controversial permit for the Ramla l-Ħamra development and for an outdoor disco in Mistra.

The article allows the authority to change or revoke a permit on the grounds of fraud, public safety or “where there is an error on the face of the record which offends the law”.

The request to revoke the permit is the latest in a series of actions taken by the residents who are complaining about the lack of traffic studies and the way the permit was issued.

Association chairman Joseph Stafrace and member Kenneth Zammit Endrich said they did not want to pick on a “scapegoat” but wanted an in-depth traffic assessment that fully investigated the effects the extension would have on the area.

“It’s obscene. How could you not ask for a traffic assessment for a development that will affect all of Rabat – including the early morning traffic from Dingli that passes through it,” they said.

Seminary headmaster David Cilia had said the opening hours of the primary and secondary school would be staggered to reduce traffic.

Mr Stafrace contested this, saying the bus drivers “will still drop off the children early because they would have other trips planned.”

They also contested a statement by Fr Cilia that the majority of children would arrive by minivan. “Were any studies carried out with other primary schools? How can he come up with these figures? We are worried about the quality of life.”

A planning authority spokes-man confirmed it had received the letter and said it was looking into whether there was a case for revoking the permit.

The extension will take 450 new students over the next three years and the plan is to open by September. Fr Cilia has expressed sympathy for residents’ concerns but has said his moral choice was to meet the needs of hundreds of families whose children need an education.