The owner of a Marsascala house will not be able to build a room in his garden to rear 10 pairs of pheasants since the birds could be a nuisance to neighbours, the Mepa board decided today.

The man, who lives in Triq Cervjola, filed a planning application to build two rooms instead of existing timber structures in his garden and on his roof. He also asked for permission to be allowed to rear pheasants in the room in the garden.

The board agreed that there were no problems with the construction of the two rooms as such, since they abided by planning regulations. The issue emerged when it came to having a specific use for the garden room by allowing the man to use it to rear his pheasants.

The term “rear” could be interpreted to mean that the 10 pairs of pheasants would grow in population. Mepa chairman Austin Walker pointed out that, if the birds turned out to be a nuisance to neighbours, they would have to be subject to enforcement according to Structure Plan policy for residential areas.

The policy states that development should not be allowed if it was likely to have a negative impact on existing or planned adjacent uses. In this case, the proposal was deemed as a potential nuisance to neighbours and, therefore, objectionable in principle.

For this reason the board had no alternative by turn down the man’s application.