Speaking in Nadur, AD Chairperson Dr Harry Vassallo said, “In this narrow alley not more than a metre wide a permit has been issued for a three storey building regardless of the fact that the application in question has been refused before.”

“When such permits are issued after an application has received a long series of refusals, without any substantial change being made to the original application, it is inevitable that suspicion arises that the matter may not have been dealt with correctly. Development permits should follow clear policies known to all.”

“When development permits are issued in such circumstances it is inevitable that it is said that the planning process is arbitrary and does not follow fixed or clear rules” Dr Vassallo said. “It is completely unacceptable that the process followed in this case is used in all similar situations. The result would be the infilling of all spaces within village cores regardless of the available access” Dr Vassallo said.

“In many villages in Gozo and in Malta the fields and gardens hidden away behind building provide a quiet and healthy space enjoyed by every building in the area” Dr Vassallo said. “Despite MEPA’s own policies and the official rhetoric on the conservation of village cores we have been witnesses to a wholesale destruction of such spaces and a disastrous disfigurement of village cores across the country” Dr Vassallo said.

“Whoever buys such a property safe in the knowledge that the space behind it cannot possibly be developed but finds himself facing a blank wall inevitably comes to feel that the we are not all equal before the law, that the law is not administered fairly and impartially and that he has suffered great harm through the devaluation of his property” Dr Vassallo said.

“In this case in Nadur (PA 04077/04) the access to the site is so restricted that building materials were hauled over the neighbours’ rooftops in violation of their rights and against their will” Dr Vassallo said. “An alley barely a metre wide has become the sole access to a number of properties being built in it” Dr Vassallo said. “It appears that nobody from Mepa has ever been on site or even examined the plans closely since it is incomprehensible how such permits could be issued some of which permanently disfigure ancient structures deserving the strictest conservation” Dr Vassallo said. Despite AD’s disagreement with regards to these types of permits in this area, AD has been in contact with MEPA to insist that more frequent inspections are carried out and to ensure that permit conditions are adhered to.

“In Nadur as in many other places across the country, it appears that MEPA was unable to regulate planning as it is duty bound to do and was not able to resist the pressures of developers and their sponsors as it was specifically set up to do” Dr Vassallo said.

Dr Vassallo said that the damage being done to the character of village cores and to the quality of life of their residents had been sanctioned by the regulator entrusted with their protection. Instances of long-lasting and irremediable damage to the urban fabric of village cores, is increasing at an alarming rate” Dr Vassallo said. “It is clear that there is a crying need for a profound structural change in MEPA to enable it to carry out its duties without interference from any quarter” Dr Vassallo said. “If not those who submit to the law will continue to be cheated and those who invest their life savings will continue to be robbed by those with powerful sponsors and by the authorities entrusted with a duty to protect them” Dr Vassallo concluded.