The planning authority yesterday reduced a fee by over €45,000 for major developers Attard Brothers after they complained that they could not afford the hefty bill.
The company had owed €114,450 for the sanctioning of a precast plant which was built illegally in the Ta' Qali industrial estate. The authority approved the development in October but tied the permit to a fee, known as planning gain.
Attard Brothers director Michael Attard pleaded with the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board to reduce the fee saying the company could not afford it as it was already feeling the pinch of the financial crisis.
"I have 300 employees who depend on me and I can't pay €114,450 especially in these difficult times," he said before suggesting that the fee be reduced from €25 per square metre, as it was, to a mere €5 per square metre.
"I need to start building. I have equipment worth millions that is not being used and had you issued the permit three years ago, I would have already got one-quarter of the amount back," he said.
Board chairman Austin Walker pointed out that the company was not being singled out, and reminded Mr Attard that he had filed an application to sanction an illegally built property.
However, he proposed that the fee be reduced from €25 to €15 and the rest of the board approved the proposal unanimously, which means Mr Attard now has to pay a total of €68,670, down by €45,780 from the original amount.
The board also decided that the payment should be made in three stages: when the permit is issued and the remaining amount over the next two years.
Three years ago, Mr Attard had filed an application for a full development permit to construct a new precast plant on his site in Ta' Qali industrial estate.
However, seeing that the authority had not yet approved his request to build the plant, Mr Attard started building the new plant anyway and filed for sanctioning.
In October, Mepa sanctioned the building and informed Mr Attard that he would have to pay a planning gain of €25 per square metre over a total of 4,578 square metres amounting to €114,450. The authority had requested the full amount before the permit was issued.