Mepa said today that is disagreed with comments made by its own audit officer as reported in the press on Monday, saying that those comments contrasted with a decision taken by the courts (in the Mistra case).

The audit officer, Joe Falzon, was reported by The Times on Monday as saying that he disagreed with a court ruling that meetings between planning officers and developers were normal practice. He insisted that such meetings were illegal.

"I do not know when the practice of one-on-one meetings started. I had been chairman of the DCC board for six years, and I never had any one-on-one meetings with developers and objectors. I believe it is illegal because planning law says DCC meetings have to be held in public," Mr Falzon said.

Mepa in a statement this afternoon pointed out that the audit officer had given his evidence in court, but the court had concluded that: " It appears such meetings could be held in a legitimate manner and there does not appear to have been anything irregular about them. Indeed, the Authority set up a Complaints Office and appointed a Liaison Officer for this purpose."

The Authority said in its statement, however that all procedures should be held in a transparent manner in the best interests of the applicants, the objectors, and the public. One of the purposes of the current reform was to increase transparency in the planning process, Mepa said.