The Kirkop local council is rallying other councils to express disapproval at a recent court judgment which said it has no legal right to file a constitutional case over a development in the village.
Kirkop mayor Mario Salerno asked all local councils to turn up outside the President's Palace in Valletta tomorrow at 10 a.m. to stand up for their right to protect their locality's interests.
The council had filed a constitutional application, in the First Hall of the Civil Court, over the granting of an outline development permit for the relocation of a Multigas plant from Sta Venera to Kirkop.
In the application the local council argued that the Planning Appeals Board (PAB) dealing with the Multigas permit was not independent and impartial.
Among other things it said that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (Mepa), in 2000, was a party in the case before the PAB, financed the board and the Mepa chairman (at the time) was the architect of Multigas. Although the chairman had declared a conflict of interest, and stepped down in this case, he remained present during the process.
The Kirkop council filed the case against the Attorney General, the PAB, Mepa, Multigas, the Development Control Commission, architect Joseph Dimech and lawyer Kevin Aquilina.
The Attorney General argued that the local council did not have the legal right to the constitutional application because, according to law, it could only give its advice and be consulted on planning issues.
The local council insisted that it had a right to file a case in the interest of its residents.
In a judgment handed down last week, Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia noted that the law laid down that such an application could be filed "by any person, non-governmental organisation or group of individuals". A local council, funded and granted its powers by the government, did not fall under this definition and, therefore, the Kirkop local council had no right to file the case.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Salerno asked for the backing of the other local councils. He asked them to contribute €30 each and join as parties in the appeal to the court judgment. The appeal has to be filed by today week.