The planning authority has been given three months to finalise a sixteen-year overdue policy for part of Marsaxlokk or else be forced to permit the construction of a jogging track.

The Environment and Planning Review Tribunal partially upheld an appeal filed by the Marsaxlokk council, which wants to build the track and embellish the area in Trunċiera and Port Ruman roads.

However, the planning authority refused their request last year because the proposed project would “prejudice” a draft guidance policy for the area, known as Kavallerizza, and was “premature”.

Although the local plan for Marsaxlokk Bay was published in 1995, the Kavallerizzaplanning guidance has never been issued. The council argued the jogging track fell in line with the area’s policies and did notprejudice the guidance document.

It said the authority “did not find this problem” when it approved a permit for ahard-standing facility in the bay in 2003, adding there was a “two weights and two measures” approach.

The planning authority admitted the project followed the Marsaxlokk Bay local plan but insisted it could not be approved because the guidance document for the area was not ready.

It also asked the architect to hold the project until the document was finalised but never received a reply.

In its decision, the planning tribunal said the council’s arguments were “convincing”.

“How can the authority be credible in this case, when it left the planning guidance pending for more than sixteen years in such a sensitive area like the Kavallerizza?” it said.

The planning authority said the permit for the hard-standing facility was justified because the guidance policy did not exist, but this was a “lame excuse” because, according to the local plan, all development in the area had to wait.

“Generally speaking, the tribunal feels that when a mistake is made and a permit is not issued according to planning policies, it shouldn’t create a precedent that leads to other mistakes,” it said.

However, the tribunal said this argument did not hold for the council’s project because the public has been waiting more than sixteen years for “something to happen” and because the project would clean up and landscape an abandoned area.

It ordered the planning authority to issue the permit if, within three months, the guidance document was not finalised.