Build a cosy little stone room in a field, put up a high wall and slap a padlocked zinc barrier across the entrance. Dig a large rectangular hole in the ground and cover it with cement beams so you can easily start on a second illegal room. Plant a few cabbages, then send the Malta Environment and Planning Authority an application “to sanction reservoir, tool room, access gate and rubble wall”.
Anyone can do it, although the more persistent ones usually win, especially if they are familiar with planning loopholes – or know a professional who is well versed in the game.
On the whole, Mepa case officers seem to act responsibly within their brief, doing the utmost to ensure (as prevailing policies advise) that unwarranted development is not allowed to spoil what rural land we still enjoy outside the development zone.
Biodiversity is at issue too, as we are not the only ones to enjoy it. Some creatures’ very survival depends upon it. Yet there remain some rather large gaps in the way ODZ applications are churned out and monitored – or not.
With a number of new and revised policies up for public consultation, it is feared that these may irretrievably alter a new spatial plan set to replace the Structure Plan. This could be bad news for countryside protection in years to come.
A new policy on stables seems to have attracted a number of applications last year. A development application in a Gozo valley “to house specially trained horses to assist in human therapy” has been filed by someone who happens to run a horse-drawn carriage service for weddings from Xagħra.
It may be commendable that an application for an equestrian therapy centre, with all the social benefits it might bring, is seen through to completion if this is possible without detracting from the environment. But who will check whether it won’t simply be used as a horse and carriage port for this operator? Is the ‘therapy’ ticket merely a passport for sliding this application past any obstacles?
A rash of applications for fireworks factories (obviously unsuitable for urban areas) can be expected as another new policy is hoisted. The planning authority awaits the results of a public consultation exercise underway, until February 7, after government appointed a committee (chaired by Michael Falzon, who has a flair for pyrotechnics) to make its proposals.
Meanwhile, Mepa’s natural heritage advisory panel has been holding off an incursion on a Għargħur valley. The panel echoed concerns raised by the environment protection directorate and strongly objected to the further proliferation of development along Wied id-Dis valley by a fireworks factory extension.
While admirably aimed at increasing safety, the incoming policy’s only nod to environment is a requirement to plant trees around fireworks factory buildings – another passport for pushing through more ODZ development near Mellieħa, Rabat and the vicinity of Għarb.
Year in, year out, and no matter which government holds the reins, something rotten prevails in the planning system when it comes to defending the environment against economic interests. A look at how some ODZ applications have been doing ahead of the new policies and since the election, does not bode well for the future:
Year in, year out, and no matter which government holds the reins, something rotten prevails in the planning system when it comes to defending the environment against economic interests
In 2006, Mepa received an application for sanctioning of walls, reservoir, stores and a gate adjacent to a watercourse on the clay slopes under Rabat some years after the Verdala golf course had been put on hold. The sanctioning was refused since the applicant was not considered to be a bona fide full-time farmer, so the construction could not be recommended for approval.
Unsympathetic to the Mepa decision, the applicant went ahead with works while sending the application back for reconsideration. Instead, he received an enforcement notice while the permit was again refused. Sitting comfortably unmolested for another two years, the applicant then attempted to secure a separate permit sanctioning the works. This too was doggedly refused, and a second reconsideration on the same case also turned down.
Not to be deterred, the applicant filed an appeal against the refusal. Meanwhile, a third application for sanctioning has again been made for the same site under a different architect (the same one as in the Polidano case below) with a target date of April 2014. The natural heritage advisory panel shared the concern of the environment protection directorate over this proposed sanctioning of illegal works – yet no one seems to be listening.
One that takes the cake is a deceptive ODZ application to build “between two existing dwellings”. Fortunately, the heritage advisory team picked up on this and made it clear that the proposed development is “completely ODZ”. It is recommended for refusal. Ribbon development has been averted for now.
Amid all of the above, an applicant by the name of Carmel Polidano has been carrying on as if he is the island’s top illegal developer (unless this person is indeed the same incorrigible Ċaqnu). Here is the permit history in brief:
In 2004, Mepa received an application to build a “first floor residential unit” outside the development zone at Bubaqra. The permit was refused twice but this decision is eventually overturned on appeal and a permit was granted. The development went ahead, although unsurprisingly, it was not done according to the approved plans.
A new architect entered and a fresh application submitted to sanction variations from the plan. The case officer did not find any objection, neither did the natural heritage panel disagree. Yet the board enigmatically decided to withhold the permit.
Was this a case of politics working in favour of the environment for a change due to the recent media attention on this infamous developer… or was the board’s refusal just another move in a tactical game of appearances? All eyes will be on the outcome of the developer’s appeal against the board’s refusal, due to be decided on January 23.
It looks like a case of too little, too late, as Mepa finally put a cap on the development in Triq il-Marsalforn, Xagħra, which had slipped through at appeal stage despite being “a large increase in area and massing which completely overpowers the original building”, according to the planning directorate. An extension of five washrooms was turned down on this block, which boasts permits going back to pre-Mepa days. The original applicant is a well known lawyer and politician.
“The scenic value of this particular area is appreciated as an important resource both aesthetically as well as for socio-cultural and economic reasons,” oozed a tribunal decision notice. In spite of all this, an earlier refusal to build the block was overturned. The applicant happened to be a prominent figure in Gozo with a pocketful of pro-development arguments, enough to tear down any sense of propriety.