Appeals board washes hands of Freeport extension

The Environment Planning Appeals Board has washed its hands from the controversial Freeport extension case, opting instead to refer the matter to the Prime Minister for a final decision by Cabinet.

The decision of the appeals board to adopt the call-in procedure was taken on May 26, just two days after a sitting treated the merits of the case.

The board referred the case to the Prime Minister, responsible for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, who replied that a final decision would be taken by Cabinet.

The board’s decision was only revealed yesterday during another sitting of the appeals process when architect Carmel Cacopardo, on behalf of the Birżebbuġa Environmental Action Group, objected on grounds that the call-in procedure should have been adopted 15 days after the appeal was filed and not 10 months later.

The chairman of the appeals board, architect Chris Falzon, dismissed the objection, insisting the appellants were “nitpicking” because the board was obliged to notify the government despite the 15-day time window.

“You may say what you like but I would not even dream of not referring the matter to the government,” Mr Falzon said, adding the decision to evoke the call-in procedure should make no difference to the objectors.

However, lawyers Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi and Simon Micallef Stafrace, on behalf of the environmental group, and the Birżebbuġa local council continued to object. Mepa lawyer Anthony Degaetano insisted the law used the words “shall” when referring to the board’s obligation to refer cases of strategic national importance to the government.

The 15-day time window was only there to emphasise the urgency, he insisted.

The board then gave both parties a month’s time to make written submissions on this point with the board binding itself to decide on the issue on October 13.

The call-in procedure means that the board will still consider the merits of the appeal but a final decision will be made by the Cabinet after it receives the board’s recommendations.

The project had been unanimously approved in Parliament and had the backing of a legal notice but, in February 2009, the Mepa board overturned the extension on grounds of over­riding public interest. However, the permit was granted in January last year allowing the Freeport to extend Terminal 1 by 130,000 square metres.

The decision had angered Birżebbuġa residents and, in their appeal against the permit, the environmental group accused the planning authority of ignoring local policies.

An objection concerns the actual site where the extension will be built, which, according to planning policies, is a buffer zone between the Freeport’s activities and the nearby beach that is also used by the locality’s sailing club.