New amnesties unveiled to regularise building illegalities are unclear and widely open to interpretation, the Kamra tal-Periti has warned.
Above all, they also fail to address the importance of promoting quality of our building stock by allowing illegalities which fall well below the minimum requirements of established regulations to be regularised and made legal, the Chamber of Architects said.
The new scheme, valid for two years, allows buildings (or parts of buildings) not covered by a permit to be regularised as long as they are within development zones and do not constitute “an injury to amenity”, such as disturbing neighbours or the environment.
Regularisation takes place according to a new regime of fees, such as €1,500 for a 150-square metre apartment and €4,300 for a penthouse of 100 square metres.
Last May, the chamber had submitted its formal reactions to the draft legal notice saying it included too many lacunae and vague requirements.
The KTP expressed its fears that these regulations will open the door to severe blots in our built landscape, and will serve to promote the laissez-faire attitude of certain developers
The KTP expressed its fears that these regulations will open the door to severe blots in our built landscape, and will serve to promote the laissez-faire attitude of certain developers by providing a mechanism for illegalities to become legal. But most of the concerns raised have not been addressed.
Among others, the legal notice contains many vague statements which give the impression that anything can be regularised, making no distinction between minor irregularities and major ones.
There appears to be no mechanism for third parties to register an interest in an application unless they had previously reported the illegality to the authority, and third parties do not have a right of appeal.
Although some media reports have given the indication that decisions on these applications will be taken at public sittings of the Planning Board, this provision is not specifically stipulated in the legal notice.
While ODZ properties have been excluded, properties which are located within Urban Conservation Areas or which are themselves scheduled have not been excluded.
It said the main criterion on the basis of which the authority will determine an application is whether or not it constitutes an 'injury to amenity', which is an entirely subjective criterion that it open to wide interpretation.
If an application is refused, the applicant will be refunded a percentage of the fees of the application, however there is no obligation for the authority to issue an enforcement notice and/or to request the removal of the illegality, the KTP said.