Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia defended a policy change enabling Mepa to grant a temporary permit to an illegally built petrol station in Qormi.

He argued people should be given an opportunity to regularise their position, adding that there was “political consensus” on the policy, which was introduced last August, empowering the planning authority to issue clearance in such cases.

He said the petrol station’s owners had been “promised a permit before the elections”.

However, Opposition spokes-man Ryan Callus said: “The permit in question was turned down twice by Mepa before the elections. It is rather pathetic for Dr Farrugia to point fingers at the previous administration instead of accepting responsibility for decisions made by politically appointed public officials within the authority”.

The policy allowed J. Gaffarena Service station to get back to business this week, after it was closed down in 2008 and again in 2009 because the owners built several illegal structures, including an entire floor above the height permitted, a basement and structures near a relocated car wash.

The owners were granted “temporary clearance” to operate the legal parts of the petrol station and an adjacent car wash for three years, during which time the development is expected to comply with existing permits.

The clearance was subject to strict conditions, including a hefty bank guarantee, part of which would be retained by Mepa, Dr Farrugia said.

Giovanni Bonello, a former judge of the European Court of Human Rights, was critical of the decision due to the “enormous” illegalities on site. He was a Mepa board member when the station’s permit was considered and said the developer had abused his permit, leading the board to overwhelmingly refuse to sanction the illegalities. The applicant almost doubled the building’s footprint when the permit had already been granted exceptionally outside development zone (ODZ), Dr Bonello said.

Asked whether such a policy change allows those who broke the law to get away with it, Dr Farrugia said it offered “an opportunity for applicants to come in line with the law in a context where the risk is borne entirely by the applicant and strict criteria need to be met”. He noted the major illegalities at the station were the first floor and basement, which were sealed off.

Joseph Gaffarena had to pay a bank guarantee of €500,000 to resume operations at the petrol station. It will be forfeited in favour of Mepa if the development exceeds the permit parameters.

Dr Farrugia said the bank guarantee would ensure that if the development did not comply with the permit, any enforcement action needed by the planning authority would be paid for.

He pointed out that the policy change had been scrutinised “word for word and comma by comma” by the parliamentary Committee for Environment and Development and, therefore, approved by both sides of the House.

How to get a three-year permit for an illegal property

Mepa may allow the use of the legal parts of a development for up to three years until the illegalities comply with existing permits. The conditions include:

• Parts of the property not covered by a permit are sealed off. Seals must be kept intact and tampered ones are fined €12,000 daily or the amount of the bank guarantee, whichever is lower.

• A legal agreement is made where the applicant accepts that development will be made compliant with development permits within 36 months.

• A bank guarantee is requested, calculated according to unpermitted floor space: €120 per square metre for a residential development, but not less than €2,000; €150 per square metre for a non-residential development but not less than €2,300; €200 per square metre for an ODZ development but not less than €3,000.

• The bank guarantee will not exceed €1 million. Ten per cent will be retained by Mepa.

More information is in circular 1/13 available on Mepa’s website: www.mepa.org.mt/info-circulars.