The environment group Flimkien Ghall Ambjent Ahjar (FAA) today kept up the attack on MEPA over the permit granted for Mistra high rise buildings, questioning the legality of the decision.

The NGO said the decision to allow the building of high-rise blocks on Mistra ridge violates not only the Local Plan, but also the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) eight-floor limit for the area as well as the regulation which stipulates that "Settlements on elevated ground and on ridges are inappropriate locations for tall buildings, as tall buildings in these locations would be more pronounced, would have a deleterious impact on the skyline on a national scale and would dominate the whole landscape when viewed from low lying ground;"(FAR Policy, 7.Locating Tall Buildings).

"The approval ignored the advice of MEPA's Heritage Advisory Committee as it also places at risk the area's heritage which includes archaeological sites and the unique and endangered Underground Flour Mill. The MEPA Board took the decision without being shown the latest plans' impact on the landscape in photomontages, the most important aspect of the project," the FAA said.

"On the grounds of these violations, FAA questions not only the wisdom, but even the legality of the MEPA board's decision to allow a further 868 apartments in an area which already has over 1,000 vacant housing units. Furthermore, the Halcrow and TEN-T transport report already state that the Xemxija bypass cannot cope with present traffic demands, let alone the increased traffic that this development will create.

"The building of a Pwales bypass which has already been investigated and dropped in the past, would be equally unsustainable, given the encroachment of agricultural land, the threat to the aquifer as well as to the Ghadira bird sanctuary and Area of Special Conservation which includes marshland and sand dunes."