The Mepa Board has turned down a planning application which sought to sanction an additional penthouse level on two blocks of the recently constructed ‘village’ for the elderly, in an area known as Ta' Simblija, limits of Naxxar.

This planning application also sought planning permission to sanction other general amendments on all levels from those approved in the permit. The works included changes to the rooms and ancillary areas, alterations to the pool area, external alterations to elevations, rearrangement of the approved landscaped areas and sanctioning of additional amenities to the approved old people’s development including the introduction of a spa, child care centre and a storm water reservoir.

The board turned down this sanctioning request and said that the developer had not only breached the existing enforcement notice on site, but the proposed penthouse level on the two blocks would result in the intensification of the volume of urban development located outside the development zone.

Additionally the proposed penthouse levels would also have a negative effect on the visual settings of the area.

Earlier this year, the Authority issued an enforcement notice on both blocks after illegal construction works were noticed to have started on the yet proposed penthouses.

The ‘village’ for the elderly, which is in its final phase of construction had been granted a full development permit in 2012, after the Planning Appeals Board, which is independent from MEPA, had issued an outline permit in 2000. The site which is in an outside development zone (ODZ) was formerly used for industrial purposes as a pre-cast concrete manufacturing plant, Mepa said.