I refer to the letter entitled Villa Bologna And Mepa (November 22).

The contents of the letter indicate that the author is relying on second-hand information which is sadly incorrect. In such circumstances, it is surprising that one would even consider putting pen to paper.

The fact that Mepa never scheduled Villa Bologna is not in any way a reflection that Mepa disregards the prestige of this property. The truth is that there has never been any threat to the villa or its gardens to be demolished or redeveloped, as the owners of the property have rightly felt the responsibility to keep the property and its gardens in an impeccable condition, also considering that it was used as a commercial premises.

The integrated heritage team within Mepa, that is managed and run by two employees, has scheduled a total of 2,011 buildings of which 881 are Grade 1 properties. These were facing imminent threats.

The authority currently also has to sit for 61 appeal cases whereby owners of scheduled properties are either appealing to have their property de-scheduled or are contesting a decision of refusal on development applications because of scheduling restrictions.

The authority is also surprised that persons such as Kenneth Zammit Tabona failed to draw the authority's attention to anything related to Villa Bologna during the four-year period, from when the Central Malta Local Plan (CMLP) was launched for public consultation to it being approved. More so when one considers that the public consultation draft of the local plan was indicating the whole site as developable. Not one letter, not one comment was received about Villa Bologna and its gardens during the course of this time. Only now, over a year after the local plan was approved and a full five years after the initiation of the public consultation do these soi disant (sic) "warriors of the environment and heritage" speak up.

To put the record straight, in the draft CMLP that was issued for public consultation in 2002, the authority earmarked the whole area around Villa Bologna, including the actual villa, as a residential priority area. This meant that the development of villas in this area was permissible. During the four-year gap, no family, mayor, historian, expert, political party, artist or non-government organisation suggested that Villa Bologna should be excluded from any of the proposed policies. In the approved local plan, the authority chose to protect the actual villa and its surrounding gardens by declaring them as an open space enclave. This declaration safeguards and protects Villa Bologna and its surrounding gardens through a specific policy which allows no misinterpretation.

Mr Zammit Tabona chose to unjustly criticise the authority and its employees from the comfort of his armchair, using his pen as a sword without verifying his facts. Criticism is healthy but must be based on facts if it is to contribute in any way to a better future.