The Court of Appeals has ruled in favour of the Planning Authority and has annulled four decisions taken by the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT).  

The cases involved enforcement notices issued by the authority against the sites of the former Mistra Village Holiday Complex and the former Jerma Palace Hotel, the desheduling of a site known as Ta' Dmejrek in Siġġiewi and the refusal of planning permissions for the development of warehouses on ODZ land in Kirkop.

Earlier this year, the tribunal had struck down a decision by the Planning Authority and upheld a request by Siġġiewi local council against the descheduling of a quarry site known as Ta' Dmejrek.

The tribunal had also upheld an appeal by the owners of both the Jerma and Mistra sites and annulled the PA’s enforcement orders. Both sites had been left abandoned and in disarray for years and the  Authority, through the enforcement notice, had requested the land owners to address the injury to amenity.

Read: The Jerma Palace hotel is to be demolished

Similarly, the tribunal reversed a 2016 PA decision and granted permission for the development of warehouses on ODZ land in Kirkop.  

The PA appealed all cases infront of the Court of Appeal. Following the Court’s decision the cases will go back to the tribunal for a final decision.