Court rejects Mepa appeal over Rabat permit

 An appeal filed by Mepa over a permit granted to Victor Scerri by the Planning Appeals Board has been rejected after a court found that it was not submitted on time.

Scerri (not the former PN president) had sought a permit 'to demolish existing building and erect ground floor maisonettes overlying flats and penthouses,' on a site in the heart of Rabat.

The permit was originally refused by Mepa for environmental reasons in 2009, and Mr Scerri appealed before the board.

The board authorised the granting of a permit after deciding that a solution could be reached which respected the environmental considerations applicable for the site. It said that half of the ground floor, which was meant to be a maisonette, should become a garage and the remaining half as an apartment, reducing the parking requirement to seven from eight.

It told the secretary of the Environment and Planning Commission that the permit could be issued within 30 days once the applicant presented amended plans.

In its appeal to the courts, Mepa said the board should not have upheld Mr Scerri's appeal since the the substance of the project had been changed, to the extent that new plans had to be submitted.

The claim was denied by Scerri who said the amended plans had been filed at the request of the appeals board and the amendments did not change the footprint of the project or the number of floors. If anything, the density of the project was being reduced since one of the maisonettes was to become a garage.

Mr Scerri also argued that the appeal before the law courts had not been filed within the two weeks of the board's decision and should therefore be rejected

Mr Scerri had gone before the appeals board after the Development Control Commission had originally refused to grant the permit.

The court established that the board took its decision on September 22, 2011 and the appeal before the law courts was filed on October 10, 2011, which was beyond the 15-day limit laid down in the law.

The appeal was therefore rejected.

In a similar decision, the Court of Appeal also rejected another appeal filed by Mepa from a decision of the appeals board, ruling that the appeal was filed outside of the legal 15-day time limit.

The court heard that Noel Mario Farrugia (who died in the course of the litigation) had applied for a permit fto rebuild a fireworks hut in Gozo. His application was dismissed but his appeal to the Mepa appeals board was upheld on September 22, 2011.

Mepa then appealed from the board's decision to the Court of Appeal.

However Mr Justice Pace pointed out that MEPA had failed to file its appeal within 15 days from the appeals board ruling. The appeal had been filed on October 10, 2011, namely after the lapse of 15 days from the board's ruling.

The court therefore dismissed Mepa's appeal.