Botched 1990 police appeal paved way for ‘legalisation’ of Garden of Eden in Zurrieq

Documents submitted to prove the legality of existing structures at the Zurrieq wedding hall Garden of Eden, have cast a light on a series of procedural errors on the part of the authorities, 30 years ago.

Documents proving the absence of illegalities on the Nigret site, submitted in the wake of an application to demolish the existing wedding hall to make way for 12 luxury bungalows, show that the authorities mysteriously withdrew an appeal against a court sentence that absolved the owners of conducting illegal work – after presenting it against the wrong person.

Former PA Executive Chairman Johann Buttigieg, in a letter sent to the owners in May 2014, certified the legality of the site. In his letter Buttigieg states that following verifications of court procedures and legal advice,“the authority cannot state that the premises in question are illegal or that illegalities exist on site.”

An original permit for a boundary wall in the Nigret site had been issued to Joseph Baldacchino in October 1988. In January 1989 he was also issued a trading licence for “an open air disco for the holding of disco dances”, and to sell drinks, following a “no objection” by the Works Department.

In 1990, the licence was withdrawn in view of “unauthorized structures” consisting of “rooms roofed with a wooden ceiling” which had been erected in the area. But in October 1990, Baldachino was found not guilty of building without a permit, with the magistrate saying there was “reasonable doubt” that the structures were built before the revocation of the police trading licence.

The police and Attorney General appealed this decision, arguing that the ‘no objection’ of the Works Department to the disco licence did not amount to a permit for the illegal structures.

But the appeal was erroneously filed against a certain Joseph Polidano, instead of against Joseph Baldacchino. The error was rectified four days later. But Baldachino contested this, arguing that this went beyond the four days the police had to file the appeal; apart from arguing that they had no grounds to appeal the sentence.

The AG subsequently withdrew the appeal in November 1990. Still, this was not the end of illegalities on the site because an enforcement order against a makeshift car-park was issued in 1998.

Baldacchino Holdings recently presented new plans to demolish the existing complex and construct 12 bungalows instead, this time excluding the illegal car park that has been subject to an enforcement order issued 20 years ago.

Its regularisation has now been withdrawn following strong opposition from Zurrieq residents. Instead the developers have presented another application to plant an olive grove on the site of the car park to rectify the long-standing illegality.