Labour MP Silvio Parnis is set to get a permit for a “mobile timber structure” in a yard in St Paul’s Bay through an application submitted by fellow parliamentarian Charles Buhagiar.

It will replace another timber structure that Mr Parnis had called “a caravan” containing four rooms that had been built illegally.

Following an enforcement notice in 2010, Mr Parnis removed the illegal development.

The original structure had one bedroom with an adjoining toilet, a kitchen and a storeroom. The area’s zoning policy does not permit such structures for residential purposes.

The application is for a similar structure, with the rooms labelled as a garden shed, a restroom and a store that will be used for recreational purposes, which do not breach zoning rules.

The garden shed and adjacent rooms Mr Parnis wants to build are on a tiled terrace located at the water’s edge in St Paul’s Bay and enjoys unobstructed sea views.

The structure is uncommonly large for what should be a store and a shed

A mobile toilet is to be placed on the site – an area belonging to third parties. The mobile toilet will be placed just outside a window of an adjoining property, according to the plans.

Silvio Parnis

The case officer’s report states that “it is inadmissible that a mobile toilet shall reside in a garden adjoining a residence. The smell shall pose a health hazard to the neighbouring residence”.

This is followed by a note that all is in conformity with department of environmental health rules.

The owner of the adjacent building against whose wall the structure will be built has filed objections but these were dismissed.

He argued that the proposed new structure was “uncommonly large” for what should be a store and a shed. He also questioned the need for a mobile toilet when one of the rooms was meant to be a restroom.

Mr Parnis was asked about the objections, why one of the larger rooms labelled “a garden shed” was needed on a tiled floor and whether the fact that both the applicant and the architect (Mr Buhagiar) were Labour MPs amounted to an advantage.

Mr Parnis said Mr Buhagiar had been “appointed in his professional capacity”.

“This application reflects the contents of a previous application which was submitted back in 2011, when Mepa, at the time, had asked for certain modifications to be made,” he added.

When he had built the “caravan”, he had told the Times of Malta in 2011 he did not know that erecting a wooden structure in a garden required a planning permit.

The case officer report at the time had pointed out the “caravan” had no wheels. He had also said the wooden structure was incompatible with the principles of good urban design.

The application has been recommended for approval.