Concessions on minor development irregularities have been granted by the planning authority through a legal notice that mirrors one of the Nationalist Party’s electoral pledges.
“Owners of residences that have an existing minor irregularity which is not creating a disturbance to neighbours can apply to be granted a partial compliance,” the Mepa announced yesterday.
Legal Notice 52, published earlier this week, was proposed by the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Development Planning, according to Mepa.
“These concessions apply only to development that preceded January 29 and should not be regarded as a precedent for approval of deviations from the requirements that may be presented in plans for the building of new premises submitted to Mepa,” the authority said.
The concessions “seek to address the social realities of a number of families who ended up with a property that could not be modified or supplied with water and electricity meters due to the departures from permits”.
Minor encroachments, such as pilasters, ramps and steps that do not protrude more than 30 centimetres beyond the official alignment, are among the concessions given. The same applies for internal alterations or modifications, including where a residential unit was subdivided into two or more units.
The initiative brought to mind the PN electoral pledge granting an amnesty for building irregularities that are not serious and do not affect the rights of neighbours. The PN has pledged to sanction irregularities that occurred before the Mepa reform.
Environment Minister Mario de Marco said this week’s scheme followed a similar one last year following feedback from the parliamentary committee on planning.
He said the PN’s pledge “went one step further” by setting out clear parameters, such as that the rights of neighbours and third parties must be respected and a proportionate fine must be paid to the local council.
A PN spokesman said: “The electoral programme is proposing the sanctioning of irregularities committed prior to the reform that are not a grave scar on the environment and subject to certain conditions listed in the same programme.
“Certain situations are not covered by the legal notice published recently.”
The PN pledge has drawn criticism from people in the property field, among them the Chamber of Architects president Vince Cassar, who said: “It’s just a repeat of what we’ve seen in other spheres. Rules aren’t properly enforced, so then there’s an amnesty to straighten things out.”