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A writ of summons against Minister George Pullicino and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is to be presented in the next few days by Santa Marija Estate residents.
A judicial letter by lawyer Profs Ian Refalo has already been sent to the minister, questioning the legality of changes to the North West local plan which allows the development of apartments in an area exclusively reserved for bungalows since 1963.
But the minister has not yet replied prompting the residents to take their case in court. The Santa Marija residents’ case could be a landmark one, as it could question the legality of the entire process for changing the local plans.
The residents have also taken their case to the European Commission, which has informed them that an investigation is underway.
The change in local plans for the northwest has paved the way for more development in this tranquil locality, originally reserved solely for bungalows. An application to build apartments in the same area has already been presented in the area by developer Sandro Chetcuti.
Ian Refalo has pointed out that by changing local plans without public consultation, the government is breaching the Development Planning Act.
MEPA argues it took note of the submissions received during the public consultation exercise back in 2002 and finalised the local plan accordingly. It also said it did not make sense to restart a public consultation exercise each and every time a change is made from the draft local plan, since this would lead to an endless exercise.
The Mellieha local council has also asked the George Pullicion for a meeting to explain why the re-zoning of the bungalow area was done without consulting the council, claiming an infringement of the law.
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