Three dilapidated rooms in an outside development zone in Xewkija could become a farmhouse with swimming pool amid controversy over whetherpeople had ever lived there.

The building permit granted in November last year is being challenged on the basis that the proof of past residence on the site presented by the applicant mistakenly referred to a different location.

The controversy revolves around a development at a site in Triq it-Taflija, Xewkija. An application filed in 2010 for the same site had been rejected by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and confirmed on appeal in 2012.

However, the applicant, George Saliba, filed another application in June last year to “rehabilitate” the dwelling and carry out additions and alterations, including the construction of a swimming pool and rooms at first floor level.

The dwelling referred to by the applicant consists of three abandoned rooms, which the Mepa case officer had described as “most likely used for keeping of animals rather than domestic habitation”.

The case officer had recommended refusal while the Environment Protection Division considered the proposal “objectionable” from an environmental point of view because it would intensify building development on the site.

Proof of past residence – which was not contested until now – is a condition for residential developments in ODZ areas to be given the green light.

In this case an entry in the 1952 electoral register showing that two individuals, Dolores and Michel’Angelo Grima, lived there was proof enough to satisfy the residence condition.

The ODZ site (marked in red) as it was in April 2010 (top) and as it appeared in May 2015 (below) when the walls of an abandoned room were reconstructed even before the permit was approved. Mepa said these were maintenance works and did not issue an enforcement notice.

However, Marisa Cassar, who has an adjacent property, has appealed the Mepa decision after research at the notarial archives showed that the Grimas had actually lived in a building two plots away from the site in question.

Through her lawyer Ian Stafrace, Ms Cassar is arguing that Mepa was misled by the applicant and the wrong information was crucial for the permit to be granted. She is asking for the permit to be revoked.

In the 1952 electoral register the Grimas are indicated as living at 1, Taflija Street, Xewkija, which would seem to be the same address of the dilapidated rooms.

A 1991 contract for the sale of a house marked 1, Taflija Street, Xewkija indicates the vendor – a certain Paul Grima – as the son of Michel’Angelo and Dolores Grima. But more significant is a map with the contract that shows the location of the property.

It results from the 1991 contract that the house where the Grimas used to live was two plots away from the site containing the dilapidated rooms which the applicant claims was their residence. The map also shows that on the site where Mr Saliba wants to build a farmhouse and pool there were no buildings.

Meanwhile, a Mepa spokesman has confirmed that the applicant could initiate works on the site despite the pending appeal.

Ms Cassar had asked the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal to retain the suspension of the permit – permits in ODZ remain suspended for 30 days, the period when an appeal can be filed – however, this request was dismissed. “Consequently, the development can proceed even though there is a pending appeal on site,” the Mepa spokesman said.

Asked whether Mepa was aware that works were carried out on the site before the building application was filed last year, the spokesman described these as “maintenance works”.

“There was no reason for any enforcement action to be taken… when one compares the photos submitted by an architect in the initial planning application submission – March 7, 2015 – it is clear that no works were carried out prior or even after the issuing of the permit. Works commenced on site following the preliminary decision taken by the Appeals Tribunal which works consist in the widening of the window of the facade.”

The maps attached to the 1991 contract that indicate where Michel’Angelo and Dolores Grima, listed in the 1952 electoral register, used to live. The map on the left is an enlargement of the area in the blue circle (right). The red outline shows the house where the Grimas lived. The plot outlined in yellow is the ODZ site where a farmhouse and swimming pool is being proposed and which the applicant claims was where the Grimas lived.

How the case officer had described the dilapidated rooms

“The building consists of three derelict rooms, one is in complete ruins with only one wall still standing, a second room is hardly eight courses high with walls in an advanced stage of deterioration whilst the third and largest room has only one small aperture overlooking the road and is structurally unsound… Given the internal dimensions of the two smaller rooms it is most likely that these were used for keeping animals rather than for domestic habitation. The third and larger room has a higher ceiling, no external windows and only a small opening, possibly for ventilation.”

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com

The 1952 electoral register listing the Grimas (marked in yellow), which was used as proof of residence for redeveloping a residence in ODZ.