Court of Appeal upholds revocation of Bidnija farm permit, rejects request to reprocess application

A court has rejected an appeal filed by Jason Vella challenging the revocation of his development permit for a sheep farm in Bidnija.

The judgement confirms that the permit, issued in 2018, is null and void, and that the underlying application cannot be reopened or reprocessed.

Vella had obtained the permit for the construction of a farm with ancillary facilities. Moviment Graffitti and Din l-Art Ħelwa requested revocation under Article 80 of the Planning Act, citing an erroneous declaration in the application.

In April 2024, the planning board revoked the permit and initially ordered the application to be republished and processed again. Vella challenged this in the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal (EPRT), which confirmed the revocation but removed the order to reprocess the application.

The tribunal also modified the reason for revocation, stating it arose from the applicant’s incorrect declaration under Article 80(1)(b) of Chapter 552.

Vella’s appeal focused on two main points. Firstly, he argued that the failure to indicate that the site was scheduled had no material impact, as the Planning Commission was aware of its status. The court disagreed, noting that the site forms part of a Level 3 protected ecological zone and that the applicant’s misrepresentation could mislead the public and undermine participation in the planning process. The court held that such errors justify revocation under Article 80 and rejected the first grievance.

Secondly, Vella contended that the EPRT erred in refusing to order reprocessing of the application. The court  confirmed that Article 80 provides only for revocation or modification of a permit. The board has no authority to reopen a closed application. Consequently, the second grievance was also rejected.

With the principal appeal dismissed, the incidental appeal filed by Moviment Graffitti and Din l-Art Ħelwa became unnecessary and was not examined further.