Planning parameters for the redevelopment of the site of the former Mistra Village in Xemxija were established in May 2008, when an outline development permit for the site was granted, the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said.

Last Saturday, the non-governmental organisation Din l-Art Helwa questioned why the application was being decided now, when the formulation of a new policy to regulate high-rise buildings had just been launched.

The authority said that inevitably, the full development application for the redevelopment of the site had to be assessed and determined against the planning parameters established in the outline development permit and not by any new planning policies.

So postponing the decision until the new policy was formulated and approved was superfluous, as this would and could not have any bearing on the full development application.

An applicant in possession of an outline development permit had vested rights, safeguarded by a number of tribunal decisions which overturned MEPA’s decision whenever it refused planning permission on a site which was covered by such a permit.